Batesville Schools Earn National Ford Next Generation Learning Designation

Learning has been focusing on more relevant real-world experiences for students through increased community engagement.

(Batesville, Ind.) - The Batesville Community School Corporation (BCSC) has earned the prestigious Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL) designation, concluding a nearly two-year process involving hundreds of community members. Since mid-2022, many Batesville students, parents, staff, citizens, nonprofit leaders, city officials, and business partners have been involved in reworking Batesville’s approach to learning, focusing on more relevant real-world experiences for students through increased community engagement. BCSC superintendent Paul Ketcham was notified of the designation after the successful presentation of the 80-page master plan, written by community members, to the national Ford NGL review committee in mid-June. BCSC will officially join the growing Ford NGL network at a ceremony this fall.

“This is an achievement to be celebrated by our collective community,” Ketcham said. “Whether it was through participating in our initial listening sessions, attending our three envisioning days, or writing the master plan, every single Batesville community participant’s involvement was crucial. The Ford NGL designation is reserved for those select school corporations who have proven, through a rigorous, multi-year process, that they can deeply engage their communities in their educational framework. The review board shared that the Batesville community’s support and our three-year plan were impressive.”

Information about the launch of Batesville’s specific Ford NGL programming—named Bulldog Ready locally—is available on the BCSC website at https://batesvilleinschools.com/bulldog-ready/. Bulldog Ready coordinator Kyle Laker is planning a designation celebration for early September.

“This highly regarded designation will be listed on BCSC’s website,” Laker said, “but the Batesville community earned it right alongside us. We plan to celebrate this achievement with as many stakeholders as we can. We will announce our plans for the designation celebration at a later date.”