This is Sankofa.

Welcome to Sankofa School of Success at Arlington Woods Elementary School 99. We are a Jumpstart Campus within the IPS Innovation Network.

When it's all said and done, our students are prepared to be influential contributing members of their neighborhoods and communities.

NEWS FEED

New Executive Director Blog - Substack

Dr. Tihesha Henderson is excited to debut her new platform for all things Leadership!

Please subscribe to her Substack!

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

White Coat Ceremony - Sankofa Hydroponics Team

A select group of 5th graders work with Her Excellency United Nations Peace Ambassador NGO ECOSOC Dr.Angela J. Nealy every Thursday and received their White Coats in February. The Hydroponics Team care for two hydroponics towers on campus.

WE ARE SO BACK!!!

Please share this with anyone that is looking to enroll their child in summer school.

For a 6th straight year, Sankofa will be offering the Indy Summer Learning Labs program from June 15th through July 17th.

For more information, reach out to our Program Director, Coach Wooldridge.

Please enroll using the link below:

https://www.indysummerlearninglabs.com/enroll

"...and if you don't know, now you know..."

We are ELATED to announce our Family Fun Afternoon on Friday April 3rd in partnership with the HBCU All Stars.

We are blessed to be the exclusive school campus that HBCU All Stars are coming alongside to provide this amazing event for our school and community.

Please visit www.hbcuallstargame.com for more information and we will see you on April 3rd at 4:30pm!

‘This school feels like family.�’ We are grateful for the trust our families place in us every day. #ParentVoices #CommunityFirst

Small groups. Big growth. Our instructional model ensures every student gets the attention they deserve. Enrollment is open! #StudentSuccess

We’re looking for mission-driven educators ready to make a difference. If you believe every child deserves excellence, we’d love to meet you. Apply today! #NowHiring #EducationCareers

We took a moment to come together as a full campus and celebrate Black History Month.

Thank you to our special guests @freemind.ki and @ebonystringsquartet for showcasing their GENIUS for our students.

It takes a village, and our village showed up for this special celebration.

What an incredible moment for our students earlier this week. Former Chicago White Sox player turned Children’s Author, @micah_johnson3 stopped by our campus to share his children’s book, Aku!

It’s moments like these that can change the trajectory of a young mind. Thank you Micah for coming alongside our community.

#elementaryschool #schoolcommunity #author

Welcome to a school community built on relationships, excellence, and opportunity. We are proud to serve our families and students every day. #SchoolCommunity #StrongerTogether

BIG SPRING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Thankful for @hbcuallstargame and @ceohbcuallstars for coming alongside our school community to bring family, fun, faith and free healthcare resources to Arlington Woods!

Learning starts with curiosity. At our school, every classroom is designed to help students thrive academically and socially. Now enrolling for the upcoming school year — schedule a tour today! #NowEnrolling #ElementaryExcellence

Who says administrators don’t dress for the job? 🚒🔥

At our school, we believe career exploration should be hands-on, engaging, and fun. During our Fire Safety Exhibit, our Director of Student Services stepped into the role of a firefighter to help students learn about service, safety, and community leadership.

Moments like these help our students see what’s possible. We’re proud to create experiences that connect classroom learning to real-world careers.

#FutureReady #CareerAwareness #ElementarySchool #CommunityHeroes

📢 We’re Hiring!

Sankofa School of Success is seeking a passionate STEM Teacher for the 2026–2027 school year.

If you believe students on the east side of Indianapolis deserve access to high-quality STEM education, hands-on learning, and educators who see their brilliance — we’d love to connect.

✔ Supportive leadership
✔ Operational stability
✔ Whole-child systems
✔ East-side impact

Apply at www.sankofaschool.org

#BlackEducators #STEMEducation #IndianapolisTeachers #NowHiring

As we wrap up BHM, Sankofa spent the last month digging into the fundamental components of what makes Black History Month important, impactful and how we can reverberate its message for the other 11 months out of the year.

Empathy and Impact have been two strong words used with our students daily to remind them that our words and actions have meaning and purpose.

Thank you to everyone that goes out of their way to make a difference. We see you!

Black History Month means lifting up impactful leaders and teaching the youth about those that lead movements to change societal norms. Our staff and students reflect on the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We sat down with Marian Walsh, the Program Director for IndyTeach. She talks about the current partnership between IndyTeach and Sankofa and explains eloquently how educators in Indianapolis now have a seamless pathway into licensure through IndyTeach.

A huge thank you to @christelhouseindy and @christelhouse for providing such a wonderful program!

As we get into the month of February, now more than ever it is important to lift up Black History.

We will be sharing moments and experiences that our students have this month on their journey of learning and understanding how Black Excellence shaped society today.

A shout out to our 6th graders for putting together and incredible door decoration for their classroom!

We Are Black History!

WE'LL SEE YOU BRIGHT AND EARLY AT 8:55AM!

WE WILL BE OPERATING SYNCHRONOUSLY TOMORROW.

PLEASE SHARE WITH SANKOFA FAMILIES!!

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH ALL FAMILIES OF SANKOFA!!!

WE ARE OPERATING VIRTUALLY TOMORROW.

SEE EVERYONE @ 9AM ON ZOOM/TEAMS.

In alignment with IPS, we are holding Synchronous learning tomorrow, Tuesday January 27th.

Please share with families that have students attending Sankofa!!!

Thanks and stay safe.

PLEASE SHARE AND SEND TO ANYONE WITH STUDENTS AT SANKOFA!!!

WE WILL SEE EVERYONE VIRTUALLY TOMORROW AT 9AM

January is an amazing month! An opportunity to start fresh, renew great habits, and truly turn over a new leaf!

We asked students and faculty at Sankofa to share what they love about 2026!

New Year, Same Leadership!

Our Education Transformation team is back and digging into our school data from semester one.

The School Improvement Grant gives our campus an opportunity to address long-standing systemic inequities on the east side of Indianapolis.

We are expanding access, strengthening student supports and improving educational outcomes for our community.

We love our Sankofa Family and Friends!

Cheers to a new year of love, life and learning :)

Hug your loved ones. Tell them you love them.

We are thankful for everyone that is a part of our incredible journey.

See you in 2026!

PLEASE SHARE WITH ANYONE THAT GOES TO OUR SCHOOL!!!

SEE EVERYONE AT 10:55AM.

Your child deserves an unbelievable journey in school. We are honored to carry that responsibility here at Sankofa for the Arlington Woods neighborhood.

Please learn more about us at www.enrollindy.org or on our website at www.sankofaschool.org.

We can't wait to meet you!

Be Impactful!

We are currently accepting applications for new board members. This is an opportunity to provide your skills, knowledge, insight and understanding to our campus and our community.

Please reach out to our board chair, Christena Wilkerson for more information: CWilkerson@sankofaschool.org

We had the incredible privilege of being the host location for the @hbcuallstargame press conference for the city of Indianapolis!!!

@travislwilliams24 we cannot wait for spring 2026 and all of the programming that will be coming to our students from your event!

Thank you to @mayorjoeforindy for trusting us with this event and we were proud to be the first impression of Indianapolis for this amazing opportunity.

More to come!!!

Please share with anyone that attends our school!!!

WE ARE THANKFUL!

Our students, staff, families, community partners are all a part of our Sankofa Family and we couldn’t do our work without you.

Have a safe and restful holiday weekend with those you love and we’ll see you on December 1st!

An incredible moment yesterday when Mayor Christopher Martin visited our campus and spoke with our 5th and 6th graders.

We appreciate public leaders connecting with our students, as it brings the real world into our building.

Please engage in civic service wherever you live!!!

We took a moment with one of our first year teachers, Ms. Bailey Jones. In this quick Reel, Ms. Jones reflects on her first 90 days as a teacher.

A really nice insightful moment of what it's like to take on the responsibility of educating children right after graduating from college.

A huge shout out to @marianuniversity and the @klipschcollege and their commitment to developing incredible educators in Indianapolis!

Here's to more smiles and laughter... and less coffee :)

We hold a monthly ETT meeting as a measure of productivity for our SIG funding. This meeting is comprised of Sankofa Admin, Grant Partners, Sankofa Students and Community Leaders. The fundamental belief of this committee is that Sankofa is the home-base of learning in Arlington Woods and are grateful for their time, energy and service for our school.

If you have not gotten involved in your community lately, please consider some type of service to better your neighbors!

We took a minute to sit down with our current Teacher of the Year, Ms. Treasure Jones.

Ms. Jones reflects on her teaching journey and instills some incredible moments during her time as an educator.

Have you had a moment to thank a former teacher of yours?

Thank you Ms. Jones for being an amazing member of the Sankofa Family!

IT’S BOOKFAIR TIME!!!

Sankofa is all about literacy. Thank you @scholastic for coming alongside us and providing a fun environment for our students(and teachers) to purchase books and accessories.

Promoting the joy of reading is incredible and we are loving every minute of it!

An advantage of being awarded the @educatein School Improvement Grant is our ability to bring educational technology to our classrooms that otherwise would've been unattainable.

@ppi_av came alongside us and we were able to source 24 Smartboards for our school.

This is just another tangible example of how the School Improvement Grant is narrowing the digital access gap that students and teachers on the east side of Indianapolis face every day.

There is an exciting opportunity at Sankofa!

If you or someone you know wants to become a champion of supporting teachers, please apply or have them apply to be our Instructional Coach!

More information in the QR code or visit www.sankofaschool.org for more information!

Just a friendly reminder that our Book Fair will be the week we get back from Fall Break!

Save up your allowance :)

Hispanic Heritage Month is in full swing at Sankofa!

Our students celebrated Latin American Countries with a parade last week. So many cool opportunities to learn about cultures different from our own.

Stay tuned for more HHM content!

SMILE!!! 😁

Dental Safari has been an amazing partner of ours over the past several years.

Dental Hygiene and positive dental habits are a MUST HAVE amongst young elementary school students.

We are grateful that Dental Safari comes in twice a year to give our students oral exams and referrals for further treatment if necessary!

Health Self Awareness starts at a young age it pays dividends as students get older.

Thank you Dental Safari!

Mental Health Monday!

A flashback to an OpEd feature we did with @wrtvnews regarding Teachers Mental Health.

Please do take care of yourself and remember that advocating for yourself is not easy but necessary in order for you to be your best self in any situation!

Thank you @wrtvnews for highlighting something that we take pride in at Sankofa.

When Community Organizations come together, real change happens!

We are grateful and blessed to have community leader, @elilillyco alongside us today, as volunteers will be flooding our doors to support the needs of our students, staff and facilities.

Their service will span from simple space freshening to STEM activities in classrooms.

There is no limit to the power of volunteerism!

Thank you Eli Lilly!

There is nothing better than working on some math problems using a dry erase marker and a mini-white board!

Something we are beyond proud of at Sankofa is prioritizing practical application with tangible learning exercises. This is just one example.

Determination starts here.

#math

IT'S BOOK FAIR TIME!!!

Parents - Please save the dates in this post - Oct 20-24 will be our book fair.

For more information go to: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/sankofaschoolofsuccess

We appreciate our LatinX students and families at Sankofa.

Over the next 30 days, we are excited to share all of the wonderful ways that we lift up and amplify the incredible things that make Sankofa a place where cultural diversity and traditions are shared and celebrated!

Apreciamos a nuestros estudiantes y familias latinas en Sankofa.

Durante los próximos 30 días, nos entusiasma compartir todas las maravillosas maneras en que enaltecemos y amplificamos las increíbles virtudes que hacen de Sankofa un lugar donde se comparte y celebra la diversidad cultural y las tradiciones.

WE LOVE REWARDING POSITIVE BEHAVIOR!

Something that we strive to do is provide experiences and reward opportunities for our students that exemplify the Sankofa Way.

Today, we featured a tailgate activity moment for our students. Games, Snacks, Time outside in the sun!

We can’t wait to show you what’s next for PBIS!

🍁🍂🍁🍂 Crisp air, cool nights, football!

School is in full swing and as the season progresses from summer to fall, we at Sankofa are progressing forward with learning!

We have a dynamite staff, amazing community partners, and a school district like @ipsschools as they come alongside our students and families.

We are rapidly filling seats! Please don’t miss our October 1st enrollment deadline.

Call the front office now for more information!

Sankofa got the WIN last night!

Liberty Grove came into the Sankofa Fieldhouse and fought hard against our team!

We are so happy to partner with @ipsathletics and showcase our strong-willed students as they face other students from around the city!

Our next home game is on Sept 17 @ 6pm against Cold Springs!

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