Indiana superintendent academy cohort to meet in Jasper this fall

Jasper will become a training ground for the next wave of Indiana school leaders when the Indiana Aspiring Superintendent Academy brings Cohort #11 to Jasper High School, 1600 St. Charles Street, from Aug. 12 through Dec. 9, 2026.

The program is aimed at district, building and teacher leaders who want to move into superintendent roles, and the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents says it is designed to build a deeper understanding of the K-12 superintendent job before those responsibilities land on a district leader’s desk. The academy is offered with the School Superintendents Association, known as AASA, and uses an interactive, blended learning model that mixes in-person and virtual sessions. One listed meeting for the Jasper cohort is Sept. 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. as a virtual session, with additional dates listed for Sept. 23, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 9.

For Dubois County, the hosting choice is more than a line on a registration schedule. Greater Jasper Consolidated School Corporation serves more than 3,000 students across four schools, including two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school, and Dubois County is home to four public school districts. That makes superintendent preparation a practical issue, not an abstract one: the people in these programs may eventually oversee budgets, staffing, academic priorities and policy decisions that affect classrooms in Jasper, Huntingburg, Ferdinand and beyond.

IAPSS says it represents more than 400 education leaders statewide, giving the academy a built-in network of mentors and peers across Indiana. That mentoring structure was evident from the program’s first cohort, which was reported to include 18 participants, 18 mentors and six facilitators. The academy’s companion support for new superintendents, a free New Superintendent Academy and Mentor Program, shows the full pipeline the organization is trying to build, from aspiring administrator to first-time district chief.

With Jasper serving as the base for Cohort #11, southern Indiana’s school leadership bench will get another season of training inside one of the county’s largest districts. The people in that room may be the ones making the calls on school finance, staffing and policy in the years ahead.