Greene County Economic Development Corporation

Greene County Educational Opportunities

The founders of Greene County believed in a high quality of education, and the students of today reap the benefits of that vision. Scroll through this section for information and links about area K-12 schools, pre-school and special needs, nearby colleges and universities, and a list of Greene County's excellent public libraries.

BLOOMFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT
Bloomfield School District educates students in K-12 on a central campus in downtown Bloomfield. In 2007, the Bloomfield School District received of an Indiana Early Intervention Grant to expand the Waterford Early Intervention Reading Program, providing additional computers for grades K-2 at Bloomfield Elementary; the program will also provide valuable data for teachers to use in curriculum design to maximize students’ success in reading. Bloomfield High School offers classes for college credit through Vincennes University in English Composition, History, Sociology, Psychology, and Calculus.

Bloomfield High School also offers classes in Physics. Project Lead the Way, which encourages students to consider a career in engineering, is currently in its second year at Bloomfield High School, offering Introduction to Engineering Design and Principles of Engineering. The Gateway Program for 8th Graders provides a 9-week program in which students gain exposure to principles of engineering basics prior to their high school experience. BSD has a strong community focus; every spring elementary students “Plant The Town”, providing flowers to area businesses to beautify the area. Members of ROTC take charge of cleaning the park during and after the annual Apple Festival and recently, the High School Art Department painted a mural on east end of Bloomfield which welcomes visitors to Greene County with scenes of historic and cultural interest.

The Performing Arts are an important part of education in Bloomfield. The Joyful Noise, Cardinal Song, and Center Stage Choral Music Groups perform at community events for NSWC Crane, UDWI-REMC and the Bloomfield Apple Festival, as well as touring the country. In 2007, together with the Bloomfield High School Band, they performed in Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. BHS band has also performed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The musical theatre department, Strut ‘N Fret, stages three full-scale musicals each year. Bloomfield School District is in the top 10% for graduation rates in Indiana, with a high school graduation rate of 94%.

EASTERN GREENE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Eastern Greene Schools are located in pastoral Eastern Greene County. The schools serve students in a 125 square mile area, making it one of the most diverse school populations in the county. Eastern Greene Elementary places a strong emphasis on early literacy and has developed two dedicated classrooms for students needing extra support in the early grades. The Bridges classroom provides a transition year between Kindergarten and first grade and The Links classroom provides extra support to first and second graders.

Eastern Greene has implemented the Waterford Early Intervention Reading Program and Reading Coach to buoy literacy efforts throughout the elementary years. Eastern Greene High School recently constructed a new building which houses 30 new classrooms, 3 science labs, 4 computer labs, a new agricultural classroom and shop, a 3,000 seat basketball gymnasium, and a new football field and track. The high school offers students the opportunity to earn college credit in Calculus, Statistics, Algebra, Biology, Chemistry and English. The school has 4 musical performance groups and a marching band.

Eastern Greene High School has joined Project Lead the Way, which encourages students to consider a career in engineering. Students are able to complete the first two years of the program at EGHS and may continue their study of engineering through Eastern Greene’s partnership with Hoosier Hills Vocational School in Bloomington. The school is also in its second year of having a JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates) program, which targets at-risk juniors and seniors, providing strategies for school success as well as important soft job skills and preparation for post-high school education.

LINTON-STOCKTON SCHOOL CORPORATION
Linton-Stockton School Corporation prides itself on taking a pro-active approach to education, school and community, believing that all citizens are members of the school community. In 2005, Linton-Stockton Elementary was awarded an ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) Top Gainer Award for reaching its goals through its School Improvement Plan. LSSC teachers and administrators continue to work the School Improvement Plan at all levels to increase educational gains; the school also engages a Community Council of area residents to advise and support the efforts of educators. The Elementary grades have also placed a priority on reading, and Linton-Stockton Elementary has been the recipient of an Indiana Early Intervention Grant to expand the Waterford Early Intervention Reading Program. Linton-Stockton School Corporation’s Vision Statement holds that “Schools must be willing to change to meet the needs of society”; to meet the challenges of a changing society,

Linton-Stockton Elementary became, in 2005, a NASA Explorer School for Grades 4-8. The program’s focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math is supported by NASA in the form of NASA resources including online and distance learning opportunities, curriculum development and training to encourage and prepare as many students for careers in the sciences. The NASA Explorer Program also runs a NASA summer camp for all Greene County students. The summer camp utilizes all the usual NASA resources as well as a NASA representative who travels to Greene County to advise and participate in the program. At the High School level, students can take Advanced Placement Calculus via two-way web connection with Ball State University. Seniors may take expository writing courses and earn Indiana State University credits through College Challenge which awards credit in Beginning Composition at ISU; credits can often transfer to other colleges as students receive an ISU transcript for those credits.

Linton-Stockton High School is partnered with Twin Rivers Vocational School and students in the vocational/technical programs earn college credit through Vincennes University and Ivy Tech, depending on the program. Linton High School is in its second year of Project Lead the Way offering Introduction to Engineering Design and Principles of Engineering. Linton shares a two-way web connection career internship program with Shakamak High School and beginning with the 2007-08 school year will offer a Business Professionals of America (BPA) program. The Linton BPA program will be adding free public computer classes in the near future.

METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT OF SHAKAMAK
The Metropolitan School District of Shakamak serves students in Jasonville and western Greene County on a central campus in Jasonville. The district makes innovative and progressive use of technology in education; wireless broadband is available throughout the campus and video and technology assisted distance learning are key components of the education experience. Shakamak High school has a sister school, the Loehne Gymnasium, in Germany. German students visit and attend Shakamak for two weeks in the odd-numbered years and Shakamak students visit German in the even.

Shakamak Elementary school has developed a unique writing program through a Department of Education Technology Grant. The ASPIRE Program, which includes students in grades 6 – 12 uses innovative curriculum to teach students both basic and advanced writing techniques. The resources provided by the DOE grant allowed Shalkamak faculty to develop a database of lesson plans and use technology to aid writing development. An outgrowth of the program has been the development of classroom libraries for silent sustained reading and to encourage literacy and language development at all grade levels.

MSD Shakamak’s proximity to the park and lake of the same name spawned the creation of an Outdoor Learning Lab, a unique collaboration between faculty in the industrial technology, agriculture and business technology departments. Students built a walking trail, inventoried and labeled natural trees and flora, set up soil sampling stations, designed an outdoor classroom and a playground area with a pergola swings, sandbox and picnic tables. Developed through a Learn & Serve grant, the high school maintains the Outdoor Learning Laboratory as both an educational and community living/learning space.

Shakamak High School students can take Advanced Placement classes in Chemistry and Calculus, and Physics is offered via two-way web connection with Ball State University. Vincennes University’s Project Link allows Shakamak Seniors to earn dual high school and college credits via two-way video at a reduced per-credit-hour rate; Project Excel classes offer the same benefit but are taught by Shakamak faculty. MSD Shakamak is also partnered with Twin Rivers Vocational School which offers further vocational/technical educational opportunities.

Shakamak High School also offers German language classes. One of the centerpieces of Shakamak’s curriculum is the Business Professionals of America Program (BPA). Students learn job training skills and complete coursework in entrepreneurship, business planning, management and web design, and compete in district contests in a variety of business topic areas. A career internship program for seniors is taught at Shakamak but broadcast to Linton-Stockton High School via two-way web connection. Seniors take classes one day per week and complete a business internship during the remaining four days. In conjunction with BPA, Shakamak also sponsors an FFA program for those students whose business interests also include agriculture.

WHITE RIVER VALLEY SCHOOL CORPORATION
White River Valley School Corporation, composed of two Elementary schools located in the towns of Worthington and Lyons, and the Junior/Senior High School located in Switz City, students from the towns of Worthington, Lyons, Switz City, Marco, and Newberry.

At WRV Lyons Elementary and WRV Worthington Elementary schools, diverse and innovative methods of instruction are implemented in a safe environment to ensure quality educational opportunities for all students. The curriculum surpasses state requirements and students are well prepared in academic areas to meet the challenges of high school. White River Valley High School offers college credits in Speech and Earth Sciences, and is associated with Twin Rivers Vocational School which offers students in their Junior and Senior years experience in auto mechanics, building trades and health sciences careers.

WRVHS also offers 1 & 2 hour business internships with local businesses. Students are also able to take courses at the Greene County Community Learning Center, located on-site at WRVHS. White River Valley is also a participant in Project Lead The Way. Future Farmers of America (FFA) agricultural education program is particularly strong at WRVHS. Students routinely participate in a variety of judging contests, including national events. In 2006 students participated in an FFA sponsored youth exchange trop to Brazil. A 2007 WRVHS alumnus was awarded a prestigious 1-year post as a state officer for Indiana FFA. FFA participants at WRV learn a variety of skills including business management, public speaking, and financial management along with practical agricultural experience. FFA students routinely travel nationally and within Indiana to attend special conferences in specific agricultural subject areas such as forestry or equine health.

For these reasons, the FFA program attracts students from across the spectrum; those who intend to pursue a career in agriculture and those who do not.

Indiana Department of Education Snapshots

HEAD START
Head Start is an all-inclusive involvement program for low-income preschool children ages 3 through 5 and their families. Services provided include education, health training, parent involvement activities and social services for the entire family, as well as special services for preschool age children with recognizable disabilities. Head Start serves all of Greene County with center sites in Bloomfield, Linton, and Jasonville. The Bloomfield site has 2 teachers that serve twelve children, the Linton site has 2 teachers that serve 20 children and the Jasonville site has 2 teachers that serve 16 children. All Head Start sites are licensed by the state of Indiana. Head Start also has a Home Base option in Greene County, where a Home Visitor visits the home for 1.5 hours per week to work directly with the family and child in order to help the child become Kindergarten ready. The Home Base option also offers "Family Day" two times each month which allows the child to come to the Head Start center in their community to socialize with the other children in the Home Base option. Head Start in Greene County is administered under the auspices of Pace Community Action Agency whose mission is to “Educate, Empower and Improve through organized steps at a personalized pace”.

GREENE-SULLIVAN SPECIAL EDUCATION CO-OP
The Greene-Sullivan Special Education Co-Op serves all schools in Sullivan and Greene counties except Eastern Greene Schools. The Co-Op is responsible for providing school-based special education services for students with learning and/or physical disabilities and those students with developmental delay, including speech, physical and occupational therapies and any services required by schools. The Co-Op also provides life skills education and support services for students enrolled in special education programs. The Co-Op is responsible for hiring the psychologists, some of the teachers, the teaching assistants and pre-school staff who work with the students within the various school corporations. While the Co-Op is school based rather than center based, they maintain an administrative building in downtown Linton which also serves as a consultation and evaluation center as needed.

TURNING POINT EDUCATION CENTER
Turning Point Education Center in Switz City focuses on adult learners. It offers Adult Basic Education (ABE), GED Preparation and High School Credit Recovery for those students who need to recapture lost credits required for graduation. Turning Point hosts a variety of adult learners; high school students age 16 and older can attend partial or full day classes and work towards a diploma either in a traditional textbook setting or with an interactive computer program called Novel Stars. Novel Stars offers 38 different self-paced learning modules which are proctored on site at Turning Point. GED Preparation is also available through Novel Stars. Non-traditional students of any age returning to complete their education are also taught at TPEC, and night classes are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00-8:00 PM. TPEC’s programs run from mid-August through mid-July. A High School Credit Recover session is offered for 7 weeks in the summer for those students who need to recover credits lost during the previous academic year. A half day program for Junior High students is available for students from Bloomfield, Eastern Greene and White River Valley school districts. The Junior High program works exclusively with the Novel Stars program.

AREA COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES:

Indiana University (Bloomington Main Campus)

Indiana State University ( Terre Haute)

Rose Hulman Institutue of Technology (Terre Haute)

St. Mary of the Woods (Terre Haute)

Community Learning Center (Switz City)

AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGES:

Vincennes University ( Vincennes )

IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Ivy Tech Bloomington

Ivy Tech Terre Haute

LIBRARIES:

BLOOMFIELD-EASTERN GREENE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library serves patrons at three branches: The main branch in Bloomfield, Eastern Branch near Cincinnati, and the Emmanuel Hatfield Museum Branch in Owensburg. All of the branches feature great books, free Internet access, and various fun activities for patrons of all ages. The Bloomfield branch, still housed partly in its original Carnegie building, is also home to two unique areas: the Literacy Coalition and the Teen Room. The goal of the Coalition is to promote adult literacy across Greene County. Any Greene County adult can take advantage of the Coalition’s free services, including GED preparation, reading and writing, basic math, living skills, and English as a Second Language. The Teen Room, designed specifically for and by teens, is a place where teens can go to read the newest graphic novels and manga, join the book discussion group, or just hang out and check their MySpace.

Jasonville Public Library
The Jasonville Public Library offers a various selection of books, magazines, and audio/visual equipment. Within their selection of books, they have an entire section on geneology for those interested in locating their roots. The Jasonville Public Library also has a micro-film machine with micro-film from the Jasonville Leader and the Jasonville Independent dated back to 1914 to the present. Finally, if you are interested in surfing the web but do not have internet access, the library also offers this as a free resource. They are located at 611 West Main Street and are open Mondays from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Wednesday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The phone number is 812-665-2025.

Linton Public Library
The Linton Public Library, formerly the Margaret Cooper Public Library, has recently moved in to their brand new building, featuring a 72-seat meeting room with a 6-laptop computer lab and an interactive white board. It also has 6 public computers for adults and 4 for children. Several comfy recliners are available for reading in the library’s fiction area. In addition to the wide range of books and periodicals you would expect from a great library, they offer a variety of public programs for all ages, including a Young Adult Writers group, a book club, and an Alzheimer’s support group. The Pony Express book delivery service is available for both daycare centers and for homebound patrons who cannot get to the library.

Worthington-Jefferson Township Public Library
The Worthington-Jefferson Township Public Library is a great place for the community to gather, offering top-notch collections of fiction and non-fiction books, free Internet on computers available to the public, and activities for the kids. Summer reading programs at Worthington keep kids of all ages busy and entertained during those long summer days. Preschoolers can come to the library during Preschool Reading Time to hear stories selected especially for them by library staff. Teachers can also arrange to bring elementary school classes in for their own dedicated reading time.

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