Lebanon Community School Corporation

Leading Students Towards Academic and Career Success

With the student and the community in full focus, Lebanon Community School Corporation is paving the educational path toward student excellence

Lebanon Community School Corporation (LCSC) is a progressive and innovative school district serving the South-Central Boone County area, offering high-quality educational opportunities to the communities of Lebanon and Whitestown. With over 3,400 students and more than 500 dedicated staff, LCSC is known for its exceptional performance and growth across its four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. The district’s ongoing facility updates, which include state-of-the-art STEM labs, flexible learning spaces, and community spaces are designed to provide spacious and safe environments that foster student success.

Situated in the fast-growing area of Boone County, Indiana, adjacent to Marion County and along Interstate 65, LCSC benefits from its proximity to major educational institutions such as Purdue, Indiana, Butler, and Ball State Universities. “Lebanon schools are uniquely positioned in a situation that can tap into a deep tradition of academic excellence, and co-curricular excellence, and has a great community partnership, legacy, and history,” boasts Superintendent Dr. Jon Milleman.

“There are so many post-secondary opportunities in the area for our citizens as they decide to call Lebanon home.” As the district experiences growth, Milleman maintains that LCSC is a close-knit school community where students and staff know each other, fostering a sense of belonging. “We feel like we’re part of a family here, but we’re also large enough that we are able to offer a full slate of academic and extracurricular offerings for our students, including advanced coursework, and dual credit courses with university partners. So, we’re small enough to feel small and big enough to offer all the opportunities of larger districts,” he adds.

Lebanon Community School Corporation recognizes the importance of a strong partnership with the community, whose overwhelming support meant the district was able to pass an operating referendum that will include the development of a pre-K program. “We will be repurposing an elementary school to bring that pipeline of pre-K education,” explains Milleman.

“When we went to the community and asked about how our school district can serve our community better, early childhood education bubbled to the top over and over again, as a need in our community. Of course, we agree with that. So, we are going to fulfill our promise to them and be able to offer some of those opportunities for our four-year-olds as they’re getting ready for kindergarten.” Along with this, the referendum supported the continuation of a program to continue the presence of a police officer in each of the district’s six schools.

Milleman acknowledges that this is not new to LCSC, but the funding has shifted from the city to the district. In terms of the importance of the School Resource Officers, he says, “They are part of the fabric and culture of the schools. It’s not a police presence in the school. It’s a support and resource for our students. That’s the goal with them, is to have students feel comfortable knowing that they have someone that they can trust, who is dedicated to keeping them safe. So, we appreciate our community for allowing us to maintain that.”

A capital referendum was also passed, enabling the establishment of a new elementary school, along with major upgrades to the existing elementary buildings. “We will be bringing them up to what would be considered modern, high-functioning facilities for all of our students, including dedicated STEM education labs, dedicated spaces for itinerant services, such as mental health supports for our students, social services, etc.” he relays.

Next in line will be LCSC’s middle school, which he notes will receive a full overhaul, reconfiguring the building, consolidating special education services, and addressing mental health supports and social services, as well as modernizing pre-engineering program spaces. “So that those students are using the most modern and up-to-date equipment and technology available.”

Following three years of effort, LCSC has approved its new guiding principles and mission statement, identifying four key systems that they believe are crucial for a world-class school district: academic growth and achievement, community engagement, a high-performing and engaged workforce, and efficient and effective school and district operations. LCSC is now in the process of redesigning its school improvement plans to encompass these four key systems, with each department and division designing goals that align with them. Following this guide the district will continue to provide a top-notch educational experience for their students.

Along with this, Milleman says, “Our new mission statement is that we challenge everyone, every day, to reach a new best. We believe that is something we can expect each of us to do, just be better today than we were yesterday. We feel like, ‘Everyone, Everyday Reach a New Best’ is a good kind of slogan. We know there’s a lot packed into that statement, but that’s where we’re headed.”

On the curriculum side LCSC is demonstrating innovation in their grade 6 through 12 programs, engaging in Indiana’s pre-engineering program, Project Lead the Way. Advanced placement computer science programs are also available, equipping Students with the skills needed for today’s job market, and future education opportunities. On the elementary side, the district will be bringing in a certified STEM teacher who will work at each of the four schools starting next year, complementing the new STEM labs. Additionally, the district will be directing funds towards extracurricular programming such as robotics clubs. All of this is in an effort to prepare students for future opportunities and put them on a path to success.

With major employers like pharmaceutical corporation Eli Lilly bringing one of the largest expansions in the company’s history to Lebanon there will be high-quality job options for future graduates in the region. “We’re going to have between 500 and 700, high wage, high skilled pharmaceutical industry jobs, here in our backyard,” Milleman remarks. “We are looking forward to having conversations not just with Eli Lilly, but with other corporations that may be part of what’s called the LEAP district here in Lebanon, which is about 8000 acres that are currently under contract with the state of Indiana to attract high tech, high wage jobs to Boone County.”

Aligning with the national trend of skills-based learning opportunities, LCSC students are able to participate in a program that offers the chance to sample future options through hands-on experiences.

Milleman recounts, “We know that students need to have an opportunity to explore careers and occupations that run the gamut. So, we’re very proud to have a very robust career engagement program here in Lebanon. We have approximately 40% of our seniors this year that are engaged in the community in some way, through internships, job shadowing, and opportunities such as that. Over 100 students are currently placed in everything from veterinary offices to law offices, to construction management firms, to sports management,  public service, and city government. You can name an occupation, and we have students engaged in those opportunities. Selfishly, we want our students to return to Lebanon to raise their families. So, it’s exposing them to careers that are happening within our boundaries that maybe they knew existed but didn’t really put much thought into. It just opens doors for them to explore.”

Looking to the future, Milleman emphasizes the importance of a rigorous academic curriculum that prepares students for career and post-secondary opportunities, connecting with institutions like Ivy Tech, Indiana’s junior college pipeline. He shares that a large electrical contractor in Indiana is taking steps to create opportunities for skilled workers by constructing an academy in Lebanon, where high school construction trades students can participate and graduate with apprentice-level skills. Through a partnership with Vincennes University, students can earn dual credits towards credentials or degrees. This enables them to pursue an associate degree, which increases their chances of entering the workforce or seamlessly transitioning to bachelor’s degree programs at Indiana’s top universities. These initiatives bridge the gap between high school and successful careers, either through immediate employment or further education.

He concludes, “Our original charge as a K-12 institution is to equip our students with the academic knowledge and skills to be agile. I think probably what’s on the horizon for us is to continue to leverage the coursework that we have at a higher level, and to be able to connect with institutions a little bit more comprehensively, offering multiple associate degrees to our students so that when they walk across the stage in May, they are not only receiving their high school diploma, but they’ve already achieved an associate degree level.”

AT A GLANCE

Lebanon Community School Corporation

What: A progressive K-12 school district with over 3,500 students.

Where: South Central Boone County, Indiana

Website: www.leb.k12.in.us