By STU CLAMPITT
On June 28, a new group of high school graduates entered the world thanks to the Excel Center located on the Ivy Tech campus at 300 N. 17th St., Noblesville.
Noblesville Excel Center Director Steve Dillon told The Reporter the graduates were of all ages.
“Tonight, we will have 32 walk across the stage and a total of 55 for the year,” Dillon said. “We do two graduation ceremonies a year: one in December and one in June. Our full enrollment is 185 students.”
Excel Center Director Steve Dillon spoke to the assembled crowd of graduates and their families at Tuesday’s ceremony. (Photo provided by Brooke Littell)
Dillon said the Excel Center is a second-chance adult high school owned and operated by Goodwill.
“It started 12 years ago with one school in downtown Indianapolis,” Dillon said. “We now have 15 schools in central and southern Indiana. We are national, with 36 different schools nationwide.”
Excel Center is an Indiana charter high school with a simple mission.
“There are people all over who did not graduate from high school for a variety of reasons,” Dillon said. “We don’t care about those reasons. We want to help them with that goal of a Core 40 diploma.”
Excel Center also requires students to take dual college credit classes, which are provided free of charge, or to pursue a vocational certification, which is also free to students.
“We want them not only to have the diploma, but the day after to have a path where they can do something with it,” Dillon told The Reporter.
Now in its seventh year, Dillon said most enrollment comes from word of mouth from graduates or other students in the program referring people.
“We work with you,” Dillon said. “If you want to come in the morning and you have to work in the afternoon, that’s fine. If you work overnight and need to sleep in the morning, you can come in the afternoon. We let you take one class. We offer up to four a day. We work with your schedule because we know you can’t quit working and feeding your family to get this done, but we also know that you really need to get this done, so we are very flexible.”
Dillon said the Excel Center is proud to be in Hamilton County and he wanted to stress that Ivy Tech is a core part of his students’ success.
“We love being here in Hamilton County and we get great support from Ivy Tech,” Dillon said. “They have been really good to us.”
To enroll or to learn more, you can reach the Excel Center online at excelcenter.org or by calling (317) 524-3925.
About Excel Center
Operated by Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana, The Excel Center provides support services such as on-site childcare, transportation assistance, and college credit and industry-recognized certification courses – all at no cost.
Through access to additional Goodwill programs such as employment and disability services, a criminal re-entry program and services for first-time mothers, The Excel Center is able to help remove barriers to education and empower individuals to achieve their goals.
Photos provided by Brooke Littell