Independence High

Principal Judy Jones and her administrative assistant Liz Santiago work out a class schedule with junior Shannon Holloway, who is interested in a nursing career.

Indian River Charter High School was started by a group of people who wanted to try something different,” says its director, Judy Jones – and different it certainly is.

By any criteria, Charter is the most non-traditional high school in Vero Beach and one of the most unusual in the state. For starters, its students enter a lottery to gain admittance (there’s a waiting list of 200). Then, when their name comes up, they must co-sign a contract with their parents in which they commit to “living a full, satisfying life and to pursuing my dreams by working through the integrated curriculum of studies.” The contract specifies that the student will be subject to random drug tests and will face dismissal if found drinking or smoking.

Once accepted into the school, students sign up for at least 25 hours of classes each week – including individual projects and computer-assisted courses – from a curriculum spread over 68 hours. They may vary their attendance as long as the required number of hours is completed weekly.

Read the entire article in the March 2002 issue