The district is cutting the Innovative Center for Personalized Learning after the 2025-26 school year.
According to IC teachers, Assistant Principal Katie Slifkin informed IC teachers and staff that IC programming will not run next year in a meeting this morning.
The district’s decision to cut the program comes after months of uncertainty surrounding the future of the IC, with the district considering a potential relocation to the high school main campus. “The district and administration have been evaluating the idea of moving or staying since May,” Slifkin said. She did not specify who made the final decision or when it was made.
Slifkin met with students individually at the IC after the meeting to inform them of the program’s status, telling them “IC programming will not run next year.”
“I want to prioritize face-to-face conversations with students so that there is no confusion,” she said. During the individual meetings, she told IC students that IC teachers would be reassigned to the high school’s main campus.
Slifkin said the district will release a statement about the closure after informing IC families. “Messaging will go out to all parents today and then the larger high school community tomorrow,” she said.
Slifkin said that the city of Shaker Heights intends to take over the IC’s current location on the ground level of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Community Building, which the district leases from the city. “The city is taking the space back. The city has stated that they will use the space for their city programs,” Slifkin said. “We do not have this space — it is off the table.”
The city did not respond to requests for comment before the publication of this story.
Slifkin also cited low enrollment and financial struggles as factors in the district’s decision. “When we looked at course requests as a whole, the IC course requests did not meet the threshold with our financial situation to run next year,” she said.
Slifkin did not respond to requests for clarification about this threshold before the publication of this story.
IC science teacher Anne Scott, former interim assistant principal of the IC, said that enrollment increased during the 2024-25 school year, but fell this year due to changes in leadership and reduced promotion of the IC by district officials. “Last year, when I was the administrator of the IC, I had to be incredibly intentional about enrollment work and raised it 57 percent because of that intentionality,” Scott said. “There wasn’t as much of that active enrollment work [this year].”
IC math teacher Christopher Mattern said he was concerned with the timing of the district’s release of the decision. Said Mattern, “If this was always the plan, why wait until now? Why just before spring break? Why after class scheduling for next year?”
The district did not respond to requests for comment before the publication of this story.
The Shakerite will continue to cover this story as it develops.
Abigail Plumb-Larrick | Mar 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
As a parent of an incoming freshman, I was very excited about the possibilities presented by the IC. Looking forward — anxiously — to seeing how the SHHS administration meets the needs of the kids who thrived at the IC.
Ms Marcie | Mar 18, 2026 at 8:10 am
It’s disappointing to see this program being discontinued. I personally witnessed how much good it does to help students succeed. The space is perfect for its purpose. Hopefully, the program will find the right place at the Main Campus.