Saved Schools

BELIEVE Circle City High School

BELIEVE Circle City High School, nominated by NewSchools Venture Fund and The Mind Trust, is a high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, that describes itself as a public charter school serving learners from a primarily urban area.

View Website

Location Indianapolis, Indiana

Governance Public Charter School

Grades High

Students 294

Locale Urban

Founder and Executive Director Kimberly Neal-Brannum

Demographics

Percentage of students*

35%

English Learners

—

Free/Reduced Lunch

24%

Students with Disabilities

African American or Black 47%

American Indian/Alaska Native —

Asian —

Hawaiian or Pacific Islander —

Hispanic or Latino 46%

White 3%

2+ Races —

Why BELIEVE Circle City High School was nominated

BELIEVE Circle City High School is a public college and career preparatory high school dedicated to the achievement of students in the Indianapolis area. Our mission is to develop students into leaders through a community that fosters their agency, autonomy, and acceleration— providing a foundation for future independence and success., Believe Circle City High School is an early college and career preparatory high school focused on its the guiding principles of fostering academic achievement through autonomy, agency, and acceleration. Believe students are provided autonomy (self-government) with a discipline culture system and flexible schedules; agency (free choice) with access to a life coach, purpose path, and soft skills; and acceleration (increased rate) through early college and career planning and exposure to experiential learning. Believe Circle City educates historically underrepresented youth in the Indianapolis community and equips them with the skills necessary to become well-adjusted, civically engaged, and financially stable adults.

Student experience design

BELIEVE’s mission, curriculum, teaching methods, services, and programming were carefully crafted and designed to meet the needs of the students we serve. With the goal of developing students into independent and influential citizens within their local and global communities, BELIEVE has intentionally designed supports and programming that meet the needs of our families and students. Instruction & Curriculum Double Blocked ELA: Our double-blocked ELA sequence in 9th and 10th grade supports students by accelerating their completion of high school course credit requirements as well as remediating any learning gaps from students’ K-8 instruction, and creating more flexibility for career certification courses. Gifted & Talented Accelerated Track: We recognize that while some students enter high school with significant learning gaps, others enter high school ready for greater challenges and having already earned some high school math credit. We support students who are ready for advanced learning by adjusting their schedules to enroll them in dual enrollment courses and higher level high school math courses as early as ninth grade. While many large high schools offer accelerated paths for gifted and talented students, BELIEVE provides a gifted and talented option within the attentive and close-knit setting of a small school. Montessori Principles: In the Montessori model, the child directs their own learning pathway. BELIEVE mirrors this in the Villages model that each student is a part of from the time they enroll at BELIEVE. Individualized Learning Plan: Within a school community, the learning needs are as many and varied as the students. Although we believe that all students should have access to instruction that is informed by the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), we also believe that all students should have access to high school learning pathways that best meet their individual needs and goals. At BELIEVE, we take a student-centered approach to scheduling, in alignment with our “Child-Centered” school value. Each student's schedule is made by hand, and is informed by both qualitative and quantitative data. Culture: BELIEVE’s culture system is unique and truly one of a kind. As it was created and developed by the founding team and refined over the first five years of operation, expectation and culture systems are designed specifically for the students that we serve. Mirroring the standard corporate ladder, the Level Up System (LUS), was designed to provide students with real-world expectations and practices so they are prepared for life after college. The LUS was crafted to help students develop autonomy and agency so they can be self-sufficient, starters, and critical thinkers. This system, or the privileges accessed through it, are common in affluent neighborhoods and districts but not in black and brown communities. BELIEVE is changing that. The following are core pieces of our culture system that help support the whole child: -Village Model -Social Emotional Learning -College, Community, and Career Programming

Core Practices

Core Practices Length of Use

Student Advisories
5+ years

Career Exploration
5+ years

Culturally Responsive Practices
5+ years

Early College High School
5+ years

Industry-aligned Learning Pathways
3-4 years

All Practices

Adaptive Learning Software

AI For Learning Materials

AI For Teacher Productivity

Anti-racist Practices

Apprenticeships

Assessments For Career Readiness

Assessments For Social-emotional Skills

Blended Learning

Career Advising & Support

College Advising & Support

Community And Workforce Partnerships

Family And Community Support Services

Competency/mastery-based Education

Cooperative Education

Disaggregated Data On Student Participation

Flexible Staffing & Alternative Teaching Roles

Higher Education Partnerships

All Courses Designed For Inclusion

Industry-recognized Credentials

Internships

Interoperable Data From Multiple Technologies

Individual Learning Paths

Mental Health Services

Micro-credentials And Badging

Multi-tiered System Of Support (MTSS) In Academics

Industry Networking

Project-based Learning

Peer To Peer Support

High Quality Instructional Materials

Reallocation Of Resources For Students Most In Need

Restorative Practices

SEL Curriculum

SEL Integration School-wide

Service Learning

Students Access Their Own Data

Student-led Goal Setting

Trauma-informed Practices

Tutoring

Universal Design For Learning

key reasons for innovating

Address systemic inequities

Better support a specific population of students

Better support economically disadvantaged students

Better support students classified as English learners

Better support students of color

Demonstrate what’s possible for other schools

Date Updated: 4/1/2026

*Canopy profile data is self-reported or sourced from NCES data, then verified by school leaders.