Original Research by School Decision on Indiana Digital Alternative School
Indiana Digital Alternative School serves grades nine through twelve and operates as a regular public school within the Union School Corporation, a tiny district based in Modoc, Indiana. The school’s physical address is on U.S. Highway 36 in Modoc, a very small rural town with a minimal commercial district, 87 housing units, and no public transit, parks, or library of its own. The surrounding area is agricultural, and most residents commute roughly twenty-five miles to either Muncie or Richmond for work. Modoc itself is essentially stagnant; population estimates show a very slight decline in recent years, and no new housing or commercial development has been identified in public records. The school sits in the same county as Randolph County, but its academic mission is state-wide: it is a fully online program.
The school enrolls a large student body for its grade band, with the heaviest concentrations in the upper grades. The student composition is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school does not report data on the share of students with an individualized education plan or the share who are English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school about how those populations are served and what supports are available. What is clear is that this is not a typical in-person high school; it is a virtual alternative designed for students who need or choose a non-traditional setting.
State assessment results are not available in the data provided, so there is no direct measure of academic proficiency to report. The four-year graduation rate is also missing from the data, so it is not possible to speak to how many students finish on time. Because this school is an online alternative program, the absence of those standard accountability measures may reflect the nature of the school and the way its students are evaluated, but the data does not confirm that reason. A parent should ask the school directly for its graduation rate and for any state testing results or alternative assessments used to track student progress. The school’s positioning relative to other districts in Randolph County could not be calculated because those metrics were not reported.
The most consequential fact about this school is not its internal programming but the existential status of its parent district. In 2025, the Indiana legislature passed a property tax bill that includes a provision to dissolve the Union School Corporation, effective 2027. Publicly reported accounts state that the district’s very small in-person enrollment and its very large virtual education program factored into the legislature’s rationale. If the dissolution proceeds, the Indiana Digital Alternative School would cease to exist in its current form, and families in Modoc and the surrounding area would be reassigned to neighboring districts. This is a fundamental uncertainty that overshadows any other consideration. Before a parent or resident makes any decision tied to this school or its district, they should verify the current status of that legislative action and what alternative schools or programs would be available.
There is no program data in the provided record, so course offerings, dual-credit options, career pathways, and extracurriculars are unknown. Given that this is a virtual school, a parent should ask about the platform, how live instruction works, whether students have access to counselors and special education services, and what graduation requirements look like. Housing in the area’s zip code is modestly priced relative to national benchmarks, and the cost of renting or buying is below the state median. The town offers very little in the way of community amenities; families who enroll from outside Modoc will need to consider whether the online format meets their child’s needs and whether the district’s uncertain future is a risk they are willing to take. The school’s website and the district office are the right places to start for current details.
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