The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) last August, but they will go into effect next school year. According to Superintendent Jeff Swensson, 48 states have already adopted them, and they provide higher standards than Indiana’s old ones.

“Instead of having a curriculum three miles wide, it’s a curriticulm that’s half a mile wide but much deeper,” he said.

According to Swensson, Carmel Clay Schools (CCS) has been following similar high standards for several years now and is already ahead of the IDOE implementation timeline. The district has already begun training teachers on the new standards.

Student Body President Jeremy Weprich said via e-mail the district should continue to improve its academic integrity by further raising the standards, across all levels of learning.

Weprich said, “Our students would prosper from increased goals for achievement as they serve to convey personal growth. This would also provide our district’s students with an educational advantage for their futures in the workforce or in higher institutions of learning.” By Steven Chen <[email protected]>