Timothy L. Johnson Academy

Charter schools authorized by Education One at Trine University, 4625 Werling Drive, Fort Wayne; elementary grades kindergarten through five and a middle school, grades six through eight, sharing one building; opened in the fall of 2002

Origins: Timothy L. Johnson Academy opened in September 2002 in the first class of Indiana charter schools, and a Journal Gazette retrospective calls it the first charter school in Fort Wayne. Ball State University, its first authorizer, chartered it among six schools opening that fall. The Leona Group won approval in early 2002 to open it for grades kindergarten through five, with a $150,000 grant helping it open; Education Week had described the planned school as a charter for the performing arts. The start was rough: the Leona Group's company history records that the school leader and three of its eleven teachers quit after classes began, and a company vice president was sent in.

Namesake: The school is named for its founder. Pastor Anthony Payton states that the school's founder, Timothy L. Johnson, originally housed the school in the Come As You Are Community Church building. The organizer of record was the Fort Wayne Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. Beyond the identification of Johnson as founder, no biography of him was found in the sources consulted; his life remains an open item.

The Building: The first home was the Come As You Are Community Church building on South Anthony Boulevard, carpeted so the church could hold services in rooms that held weekday classes; early federal listings give the academy an address of 7908 South Anthony Boulevard. By 2011 to 2012 the school was on Werling Drive, in a building that had been Village Elementary School of East Allen County Schools. The year of the move is unresolved, bounded between April 2010 and 2011 to 2012. In December 2011 the academy sought the former Pleasant Center Elementary School instead, but that building went to the airport authority. The middle school opened in the same Werling Drive building in the fall of 2018, on the authorizer documents, though Education One's current listing says 2019, a discrepancy carried here unresolved.

The District: The authorizer changed once. Ball State did not renew the charter, and Trine University, through Education One, LLC, became authorizer effective July 1, 2013 on Ball State's account; Education One's own later reports give 2014, and the difference is unresolved. Both schools now hold Education One charters until June 2039. Management changed twice: the Leona Group operated the school until the board selected Phalen Leadership Academy in 2018, and Phalen's parent, Entrepreneurial Ventures in Education, held the agreement until it was terminated on June 30, 2024. The schools have since run under their own boards and common leadership.

Growth: Federal figures give 174 students in 2003 and 277 in 2005. As one school serving kindergarten through eighth grade, the academy reported 305 students in 2011 to 2012. After the 2018 split the counts separate: the elementary school climbed from 375 in 2020 to 2021 to 440 in 2024 to 2025, and the middle school held at 150. Authorizer, audit and federal counts differ slightly, but agree on that shape.

Today: Dawn Starks leads the schools as superintendent and school leader. The academy was founded to serve students at risk from economic, educational or social disadvantage, and Education One states its mission as educational equity. Purdue University Fort Wayne holds a partnership with the academy, which the university describes as serving students of poverty at 100 percent, students of color at 98 percent and multilingual learners at 70 percent. Neither school has grades above eighth, so neither appears in IHSAA records; the middle school's mascot is the Jaguars.

Sources:

1. Ball State University charter reports, 2002 to 2025: the fall 2002 opening, 305 students, and authorization by Trine effective July 1, 2013.
2. The Leona Group company history, encyclopedia.com, and Education Week, March 20, 2002: the approval, grant and staff departures.
3. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette retrospective: the first charter school in Fort Wayne.
4. Johnson Academy audited financial statements, 2013 to 2025, State Board of Accounts filings: Werling Drive, the shared building and charters to 2039.
5. Education One reviews, portfolio reports and middle school Letter of Intent, 2017 to 2025: the Phalen selection and fall 2018 opening.
6. Posts quoting Pastor Anthony Payton, October 28, 2026; Brightpoint bulletin, 2015; Indianapolis Business Journal, 2011: the founder and the buildings.
7. Purdue University Fort Wayne news, and National Center for Education Statistics, 2024 to 2025: the partnership and enrollments.