Five guiding principles anchor the leadership of Superintendent David Clendening, who has led Franklin Community Schools near Indianapolis for 17 years. Individual student growth is No. 1.
“Everybody in every school could say that, but we really focus on trying to make the experience and learning unique to the kid,” says Clendening, a former Indiana Superintendent of the Year. “We don’t look at everybody as cookie-cutter. We want them to reach their full potential.”
Achieving the first principle requires hiring great teachers. Clendening and his team raised starting teacher salaries substantially with funds from a 2019 referendum.