ARRIVAL

Students may be dropped off between 8:20 and 8:30am. Parents are responsible for supervising students until they enter the building each morning. Doors will be locked until 8:20am. Parents may park in the parking lot if they need to come into the school. Otherwise, they may pull up to the curb near the main entrance to drop off their student.

Dismissal

At the end of the school day, parents or designated drivers should enter and form a car line near the sidewalk leading to the school’s main entrance. At 3:30pm, staff will escort students to the car line. Drivers should wait until cars ahead of them pull out before exiting the carline. Parents needing to make alternate pick-up arrangements must email or send a signed note to school if they or a regular carpool driver will not be picking up the student. If circumstances require a parent to notify the school after the start of the day, that parent or guardian must call and speak to a staff person, giving permission for their student to leave with another adult. We urge parents to call and make those changes before 1:30 pm. To protect students, staff will not release them to another adult without parental permission as described above. Any driver that staff members do not know will be required to show a valid driver’s license.

Mid-day Pick Up

We ask parents to make every effort to schedule appointments outside of school hours. When this is not possible, parents should send an email or a note — preferably no later than the day before an appointment — stating the date, time of pick up, and whether the student will return to school. Advanced notice will allow teachers to assist any student leaving early and will minimize lost instructional time.

Carpooling

Transportation to and from school is the responsibility of parents. Parents who arrange carpools must sign a release authorizing other participating drivers to pick up their child. That release will be kept on file in the school office. Any changes made in a carpool arrangement need to be brought to the attention of staff and updated on a carpool form, which will be filed in the office.

Punctuality

Students should report for school between 8:20 and 8:30am. Students who arrive late disrupt the class and often struggle with transitioning to a class that has already begun, which takes away from instructional time.

Absences

If a student will be absent due to an illness or otherwise, we ask parents to email or call the office by 9:00am.

Calendar + Announcements

The Independence Academy follows a traditional calendar. All families will be provided with a calendar, which is also available online on our School Calendar page. Copies of the calendar and other important handouts are available in the school office, if needed. A monthly newsletter highlighting any special events will be sent via email. We encourage parents to check their email daily and alert the administrative assistant of any email changes.

Parent Communication

We ask that most parent communication with staff be conducted via email. Emails allow staff to better attend to and refer to parent communication. Should you need to call the school rather than send an email, a staff member will respond to a non-emergency call after the end of the school day or as soon as reasonably possible.

Student Calls

Students who carry cellular phones will be required to turn them off and keep them in their backpacks during the school day. Parents needing to get a message to their child by phone should call The Independence Academy during school hours or leave a message on their student’s phone. Please note that students will be allowed to listen to cellular phone messages only after dismissal. The school assumes no responsibility for a student’s cellular phone in the event that the phone is lost or broken. Students are not allowed to use their cellular phone as a music player or camera while at school; as such, please provide a device that cannot connect to the internet for your student’s music sensory needs, such as an iPod Shuffle or MP3 player.

DRESS CODE

The IA dress code has been adopted to encourage students to take their studies seriously, take pride in their appearance, and become comfortable with a wardrobe they could wear in most jobs. The dress code also alleviates the distraction many students might experience seeing colorful tee shirts with graphic designs of video game characters, for example. Parents of students who routinely do not follow the dress code may be contacted for a conference. Families who order IA apparel are helping to raise funds for IA, as 12 percent of all proceeds are donated back to the school.

Casual Dress Fridays

Students who follow the dress code are allowed to dress casually, but appropriately, every Friday. Occasionally, we may take a special Friday field trip requiring the need to dress up. In such cases, parents will receive advanced notice. A student who chooses not to abide by the IA dress code will lose the privilege of casual Friday. In some cases, a parent may be contacted to deliver appropriate attire.

Public Displays of Affection

Students are expected to refrain from physical contact, including kissing, embracing or handholding while on school premises, IA field trips or other IA activities. Romantic displays of affection, although a natural part of a relationship, can be distracting and are discouraged at school.

Staff Contact with Families

Students will bring home a daily sheet containing any assigned homework as well as school-wide handouts or other important information. We encourage families to help teach independence by instilling the habit in their students of unpacking their backpacks when they get home and showing their worksheets to their parents at a regular time on a nightly basis.

Fees + Tuition

All families receive a monthly tuition invoice via email. Please refer to your enrollment agreement for the specific terms regarding tuition and fee payments. IA cannot operate without receiving all tuition on time. Any family paying tuition after the 5th day of the month will be charged a $50 late fee, and continual late payment of tuition will jeopardize a student’s status at IA. Checks may be hand-delivered to the school office or mailed to the school’s address: 7302 Woodland Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46278. Payments may also be made electronically by clicking the "pay now" button located directly on the emailed invoice.

Scholarships

IA is affordable compared to similar schools across the nation, many of which do not offer the low student-teacher ratio critical to our students’ success. We strive to keep costs down to make our school as accessible as possible, yet our costs are out of reach for many area families. Our board of directors established the IA Scholarship Fund, and we have also been fortunate to receive scholarship assistance through our partnership with the Sagamore Institute. For more information on scholarships and School Choice assistance, please see our Scholarships page.