Penn High School students will soon be able to take a real estate class. Principles of Real Estate was one of several new courses for the 2026-2027 school year approved by the Penn-Harris-Madison School Board on Monday.
Assistant Principal Josiah Parker said it appears to be the first of its kind in the nation at the high school level. "So we’re kind of going to be building this from scratch," Parker told the school board in October. "The idea is we’re going to give students the life in the real estate world and anything connected to that. It could be, like, surveying or inspecting of houses."
Parker said the goal of the yearlong class is to prepare students to get an Indiana real estate broker’s license.
The school board also approved an agreement with Legacy Medical Academy to provide teachers for a Healthcare Specialist Apprenticeship. Parker said a lot of students have expressed interest in healthcare courses, but there were few in-house options at Penn.
“Even though it will prepare the kids to take their CNA certification, it’s really anything in healthcare. It’ll have some clinical hours. We’re partnering with Beacon, and we’ll probably eventually add some other hospitals as we build this.”
Other new courses will include AP Business with Personal Finance, a financial apprenticeship with Korhorhn Financial Group that’s currently in a pilot phase and capstone courses for various career pathways.
