How Charter School Mergers Are Expanding Microschools in Indiana

Indiana’s education landscape is entering a period of structural change. Across the state, charter school partnerships, mergers, and authorizer-led expansions are reshaping how education is delivered, especially at the community level. One of the most visible outcomes of this shift is the growing role of microschools within the broader public and charter school ecosystem.

Rather than operating as standalone alternatives, microschools in Indiana are increasingly connected to charter networks through mergers, sponsorship arrangements, or shared governance models. These relationships allow charter schools to expand their reach, pilot smaller learning environments, and respond to local demand without relying solely on traditional campus-based models.

This evolution reflects a broader recalibration of how schooling is organized. As charter operators look for flexible ways to serve diverse student populations, microschools offer a structure that supports smaller class sizes, localized instruction, and operational adaptability, while remaining aligned with state oversight and accountability frameworks.

In this blog, we examine how charter school mergers and microschool models intersect in Indiana, what is driving this expansion, and how these changes are influencing the state’s education system. The focus is on understanding the policy context, structural implications, and practical outcomes of this shift, rather than promoting any single model or approach.

Key Takeaways

• Indiana charter school mergers with microschools represent a structural shift, not a temporary trend, changing how public education is delivered at the community level.

• Microschools are increasingly operating within charter networks, allowing smaller learning environments to function under existing state oversight and accountability frameworks.

• Charter–microschool models help address enrollment volatility, regional access gaps, and the limits of large, campus-based expansion.

• Governance remains centralized through charter authorization, while instructional delivery is localized across smaller, distributed sites.

• Students experience education at a smaller, more relational scale, without removing public standards, reporting, or compliance requirements.

• Families gain additional public education options that prioritize proximity and scale without assuming instructional or administrative responsibility.

• Indiana’s microschool expansion is moving into a refinement phase, with growing focus on oversight clarity, quality consistency, and long-term sustainability.

• Microschools are reshaping where and how learning happens, while accountability and responsibility remain embedded within the public education system.

What the Indiana Charter School Merger With Microschools Means

When charter schools in Indiana merge with or formally partner with microschools, the change is primarily structural rather than philosophical. These arrangements do not replace the charter model or remove public oversight. Instead, they extend existing charter frameworks to support smaller, decentralized learning environments.

At a governance level, microschools connected through a charter merger typically operate under the charter’s authorization and accountability structure. This means the microschool remains subject to state reporting requirements, academic standards, and compliance expectations, even though instruction occurs in a smaller, community-based setting.

Operationally, these mergers allow charter organizations to:

• Launch or support microschools without establishing large campuses

• Share administrative, compliance, and reporting systems

• Maintain consistent oversight while allowing localized instruction

From a regulatory standpoint, the charter merger model enables microschools to function within Indiana’s established education laws rather than requiring new classifications or exemptions. Oversight is centralized through the charter entity, while day-to-day learning remains distributed across smaller sites.

What does not change is the role of the state. Academic accountability, attendance tracking, and governance responsibilities continue to align with Indiana’s public education framework. The merger structure simply changes how and where learning is delivered, not the standards it is measured against.

Understanding this distinction is important. Charter-microschool mergers are not about loosening requirements. They represent a reorganization of educational delivery that prioritizes scale through networks rather than single-site expansion.

With this structure in mind, the next question becomes why Indiana is increasingly turning to microschools as part of its broader education strategy.

Why Indiana Is Turning to Microschools Now

Indiana’s move toward microschools is not happening in isolation. It is emerging in response to a set of pressures that traditional school models and even large charter networks are finding difficult to address on their own.

Enrollment Pressure and Shifting Demand

Across Indiana, enrollment patterns have become less predictable. Families are moving more frequently, community needs vary by region, and one-size-fits-all school models are struggling to adapt quickly. In some areas, traditional campuses face declining enrollment, while other communities lack access to nearby schooling options altogether.

Microschools offer a way to respond to these uneven patterns. Their smaller size allows education providers to serve specific communities without committing to large facilities or long-term infrastructure before demand is proven.

Demand for Flexible, Small-Scale Learning Environments

At the same time, there is growing demand for learning environments that feel more personal and responsive. Smaller class sizes, closer educator-student relationships, and locally grounded instruction are increasingly valued by families who feel underserved by large systems.

For policymakers and charter operators, microschools provide a structure that supports flexibility without abandoning public accountability. They allow innovation in delivery while still operating within established standards.

Accountability Without Expanding Physical Footprint

From a policy perspective, microschools align with a broader shift toward efficiency and adaptability. Expanding access no longer requires building new campuses or consolidating students into larger schools. Instead, charter-affiliated microschools can operate in existing community spaces while remaining connected to centralized governance and oversight.

This approach reduces financial risk, allows faster deployment, and makes it easier to adjust or scale models based on performance and community response.

The Resulting Shift

The outcome is a model that balances local responsiveness with system-level accountability. Indiana’s turn toward microschools reflects an effort to modernize education delivery without dismantling existing structures. Rather than expanding outward through size, the system is expanding through networks of smaller, connected learning environments.

With this context established, the next step is understanding how microschools actually function day to day within Indiana’s education system.

Also Read: Starting to Homeschool Your Child: Guidance and Requirements

How Microschools Operate Within Indiana’s Education Framework

While microschools are smaller in size, their operation within Indiana’s education system is defined by clear institutional roles rather than informal arrangements. When connected to charter schools, microschools function as part of an authorized network, not as independent entities operating outside regulation.

Authorization and Oversight

Microschools that operate through charter partnerships do so under the charter school’s authorizer. This means:

• The charter organization remains responsible for compliance

• Academic performance is reported through the charter entity

• Governance and accountability sit at the network level

The microschool itself does not hold independent authorization. Instead, it functions as a delivery site within a broader charter framework, similar to how multi-campus charter networks operate.

Instructional Autonomy Within Defined Boundaries

While governance is centralized, instructional delivery is localized. Microschools typically have flexibility in:

• Daily schedules

• Group size and classroom structure

• Instructional methods aligned with approved standards

This allows microschools to adapt learning environments to community needs while still meeting the academic expectations set by the charter and state.

Staffing and Learning Environments

Microschools often operate with smaller instructional teams, sometimes in nontraditional spaces such as community centers, repurposed buildings, or shared facilities. Staffing models may differ from large campuses, but educator qualifications and instructional responsibility remain tied to the charter’s policies.

The emphasis is on proximity and scale rather than novelty. The microschool model changes where learning happens and how it is organized, not who is accountable for outcomes.

Data, Reporting, and Compliance

From a compliance standpoint, microschools follow the same reporting expectations as other charter-operated sites:

• Attendance and enrollment tracking

• Academic performance reporting

• Compliance with state education requirements

These functions are typically handled through shared systems managed by the charter organization, allowing microschools to focus on instruction while maintaining regulatory consistency.

Understanding how microschools operate within Indiana’s existing framework clarifies an important point. These models do not sit outside the system. They represent a reconfiguration of how public and charter education is delivered at a smaller, more localized scale.

Also Read: Steps to Start Homeschooling for Parents and Students

The next step is examining what this shift means in practice for students, families, and school operators across the state.

What This Shift Means for Students, Families, and Communities

The expansion of microschools through charter partnerships changes not just how schools are organized, but how education is experienced at the local level. The impact is most visible in day-to-day learning conditions and access, rather than in governance or policy language.

For Students: Learning at a Human Scale

For students, microschools introduce learning environments where scale is reduced and relationships are more direct. Smaller group sizes can translate into:

• More consistent interaction with educators

• Fewer transitions during the school day

• Increased visibility of individual progress

This does not automatically change curriculum or standards, but it alters how students experience instruction and support. For some learners, especially those who struggle in large settings, this shift can reduce disengagement caused by anonymity or overstimulation.

For Families: Proximity and Choice Within the Public System

Families often experience the microschool shift as increased access rather than increased responsibility. Microschools connected to charter networks remain part of the public or publicly authorized system, which means families are not required to manage instruction, compliance, or enrollment independently.

At the same time, microschools can:

• Operate closer to where families live

• Serve communities that lack nearby school options

• Offer alternatives without requiring private enrollment

This creates additional choice within the public education landscape without fully fragmenting it.

For Communities: Localized Access Without Large Campuses

At a community level, microschools allow education providers to serve areas that may not sustain a traditional school building. Because microschools require less space and infrastructure, they can be embedded into existing neighborhoods rather than reshaping them.

This can:

• Reduce transportation barriers

• Keep students connected to local communities

• Allow education services to respond more quickly to demographic shifts

Rather than centralizing students into fewer locations, the microschool model distributes access across smaller sites.

A Shift in Delivery, Not Responsibility

Importantly, this shift does not remove accountability from the system. Standards, reporting, and oversight remain intact through charter structures. What changes is the scale at which education is delivered and experienced.

For families exploring smaller, community-based learning environments outside traditional campuses, programs like The School House Anywhere (TSHA) reflect how microschool principles can be applied through structured, hands-on learning. TSHA supports learning in small settings while remaining aligned with broader accountability and documentation expectations.

The remaining question is how this structural shift may evolve as charter networks and policymakers continue refining these models over time.

Also Read: Different Preschool Teaching Methods: A Guide for Educators

What to Watch Next in Indiana’s Microschool Expansion

As microschools become more embedded within Indiana’s charter school ecosystem, the focus is beginning to shift from adoption to refinement. The next phase of this expansion is less about whether microschools belong in the system and more about how they are governed, evaluated, and scaled responsibly.

Clarification of Oversight Models

One area to watch is how authorizers and charter networks refine oversight for distributed learning sites. As microschools multiply, states often move toward clearer expectations around site-level monitoring, performance review, and reporting consistency. Indiana may continue to formalize how accountability is maintained across multiple small locations under a single charter entity.

Quality Control Across Multiple Sites

As networks expand microschool offerings, ensuring instructional consistency without standardizing away local relevance becomes a key challenge. Policymakers and operators will likely focus on:

• Defining minimum instructional expectations across sites

• Balancing local autonomy with network-wide quality benchmarks

• Identifying when a microschool model is ready to scale or needs adjustment

These decisions shape whether microschools remain adaptive or become overly fragmented.

Data and Outcome Measurement

Another area of development is how outcomes are measured beyond enrollment and attendance. As microschools differ from traditional campuses in structure and delivery, states may refine how performance data is interpreted, especially for small student populations where standard metrics can be less stable.

This could influence how success is defined for microschools operating within charter networks.

Long-Term Role Within the Public Education System

Finally, Indiana’s experience may influence how microschools are positioned long-term. Rather than being treated as pilots or temporary solutions, they may become a permanent delivery model within charter systems, particularly in rural areas, transitional communities, or regions with fluctuating enrollment.

Whether microschools remain supplemental or become foundational will depend on how well they balance flexibility, accountability, and sustainability over time.

As microschool models continue to develop within public and charter systems, some families look for ways to apply small-scale, hands-on learning outside traditional campuses. The School House Anywhere (TSHA) offers a microschool-aligned program for Pre-K through elementary learners that emphasizes developmentally grounded, non-screen learning within a guided framework.

Conclusion

Indiana’s expanding use of charter–microschool models reflects a broader shift in how education is being delivered across the state. Smaller learning environments, distributed sites, and network-based oversight are reshaping access without dismantling existing public structures.

As these models mature, attention naturally moves beyond governance and scale to the learning experience itself, especially in early and elementary years where consistency, developmental alignment, and hands-on engagement matter most.

That’s where TSHA Anywhere fits alongside microschool and homeschool ecosystems.

Through the American Emergent Curriculum for Pre-K to 6th grade, TSHA supports low-screen, project-based learning that works within small, community-based settings, without replacing local leadership or instructional autonomy.

Microschools can change where learning happens.

TSHA Anywhere helps shape how learning unfolds.

Explore TSHA Anywhere to see how a whole-child, hands-on curriculum can support learning in microschool and home-based environments.

FAQs

Q: What is a microschool in Indiana?

A: A microschool in Indiana is a small learning environment that serves a limited number of students, often through charter school partnerships. It operates under state oversight while offering more localized instruction.

Q: How many charter schools have closed in Indiana?

A: Indiana has closed multiple charter schools over the years due to enrollment, financial, or performance issues. Closures are part of the state’s accountability process.

Q: Who is most likely to be expelled from a charter school?

A: Students with ongoing behavioral challenges are more likely to face expulsion. Charter schools must still follow Indiana’s legal due process rules.

Q: What are Indiana charter schools?

A: Indiana charter schools are publicly funded schools that operate independently under a charter agreement. They are accountable to the state but have operational flexibility.

Q: What is the meaning of microschool?

A: A microschool is a small-scale school focused on personalized learning and small class sizes. It can operate independently or within a larger school network.