“Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news. Wearing a photo of his grandmother around his neck, Crispus Attucks High School freshman Jahleil Thurton received a white coat at a Wednesday ceremony— a symbol of his entry into a healthcare fellowship at the school. His grandmother’s work as a certified nursing assistant who emigrated from Belize inspired him to enter the three-year fellowship. “I can fulfill the bigger things that she wasn’t able to do being an immigrant,” said Thurton, who hopes to become a neurosurgeon. Thurton and his peers will soon have more resources to help them realize their aspirations. Crispus Attucks will undergo a $44 million campus expansion that will bring an additional gym and a new health lab. They’re due to open in 2028, just over 100 years after the Indianapolis school first opened its doors. The project builds on the school’s existing healthcare pathway for students and its partnership with Indiana University Health, which will donate $25 million toward the project. IPS has set aside roughly $20 million in bonds to supplement IU Health’s $25 million gift. The healthcare fellowship, which IPS and IU Health launched in 2021, seeks to diversify the healthcare profession by focusing on a school that is roughly 65% Black and 28% Hispanic. Crispus Attucks students apply to the program their freshman year, and if accepted, they enter a three-year fellowship that includes earning a certified nursing assistant and a certified medical administration assistant credential. This year, 40 students were accepted into the fellowship at a school of roughly 1,200. Officials announced the addition on Wednesday after celebrating the school’s sixth cohort of students to enter the school’s healthcare fellowship , which provides students with internships and healthcare certifications throughout high school and concludes with job offers to be medical assistants or patient care technicians at IU Health after graduation. Rising Crispus Attucks High School sophomore Seydi Oliva Mendez accepts her white coat from Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and certificate from IU Health CEO Dennis Murphy, far left, on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at Crispus Attucks High School. These students, who are currently freshmen, will be among the first to use the new building. “This investment reflects how much we believe in you,” Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson told an auditorium of students and family members. “How much your community believes in you, believes in your potential, believes in your leadership, and, most importantly, believes in your future.” The investment is a boon for Crispus Attucks, which opened in 1927 as a high school for Black students at a time of segregation, when the Ku Klux Klan had a powerful hold on local politics. The school was thrust into the national spotlight in the 1950s, when its Tigers basketball team became the first all-Black team in the nation to win a state championship . Today, though, the school is the only IPS high school with just one gym. An atrium and commons area will connect the original building to the new addition on the south side of the school campus. A rendering of the upcoming addition to Crispus Attucks High School that includes a new gym and lab space. The new academic spaces include new lab rooms and a new technology lab. The new gym will meet Indiana High School Athletic Association standards and seat roughly 2,400 people. It will include home and visitor locker rooms, indoor concessions, and a weight room. The IU Health gift is part of the medical system’s ongoing work with the Indy Health District , a nonprofit that seeks to improve quality of life in an area that runs from the northwest part of downtown up to Crown Hill Cemetery. “To this community and to the people who are part of the Indy Health District: this is a continuation of IU Health’s pledge to invest in places and people who make Indianapolis Stronger,” said IU Health President and CEO Dennis Murphy. Thurton, the freshman, said the bigger gym and healthcare facilities will inspire his classmates who care about school. “For the people that want to go to school, I feel like that’s so amazing that they have the opportunity to be able to do that,” he said. Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org .
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