The state of Indiana is getting a new charter school focused on agriculture and technology education.
The bad news: The Southwest Parke Community School board voted to shut down Montezuma Elementary as a cost-saving measure due to declining enrollment and reduced property tax revenue.
The good news: An Agriculture and Technology based charter school will open there for the 2026-2027 school year serving students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
According to Keith Marsh, Executive Director of Indiana Agriculture and Technology School (or IATS), “It’s going to be very focused on literacy based. And then we’re going to use agriculture, and we’re going to use the community leaders in agriculture to come in and work with these kids and do hands on learning, and we’re going to engage them in that way.”
The University of Southern Indiana acted as the school’s charter authorizer during the approval process.
March says the school will provide students with hands-on learning opportunities tied to agriculture, technology, and rural workforce development.
He says, “We believe that if you want to go into medicine, agriculture can lead you to medicine. You want to go into finance, agriculture can lead you into finance. You want to go into biotech, agriculture can lead you in that as well. Agriculture actually drives the economic status to the state. Our kids need to know that and the importance of it and that it can lead to a great career.”
The new school comes as interest continues to grow in agricultural education programs across Indiana, especially in rural communities looking to connect classroom learning with careers in farming, science, engineering, and technology.
Marsh added, “There’s not that many really strong ag education programs in elementary schools here in Indiana. I want to be one of the first that really enhanced that, and maybe other schools will see the importance of it and infuse it more in their elementary programs.”
He says additional planning and preparation work will continue ahead of the school’s opening this fall.
