New addition will bring hands-on ag learning, enhanced construction program to CTE Academy

A new barn about to start construction will serve as an unconventional sort of classroom in the Sioux Falls School District.

It’s part of a growing program to teach high school students about agriculture, based out of the Career and Technical Education, or CTE, Academy in northwest Sioux Falls.

“The Sioux Falls School District doesn’t have farms in its boundary, and we’re kind of unique when you think about what drives our state’s economy: It’s ag. The district doesn’t have farms. We’re all built out,” principal Josh Hall said.

“But you have kids that have family members. Almost everyone in South Dakota, when you get out of Sioux Falls, they’re tied to family farms or they have an aunt or uncle or grandparent, so they have an interest. And our goal in educating kids is to expose them to a lot of different things, and hopefully they look into something that becomes a passion and a career.”

The CTE Academy started offering ag-related courses three years ago, including plant science, small and large animal science, agricultural leadership and agricultural biotechnology. There’s a chapter of FFA now based at the school.

“We’ve seen a gradual growth in numbers each year, and the kids are excited,” Hall said.

“It’s an experience unlike anything else in our schools, especially working with live animals, and on the horticulture landscape side we’ll get into, we’ll open up a whole new pathway for kids. We felt there was a hole we needed to fill because, if not for the school system, some of these kids wouldn’t get exposure to ag.”

The school started by retrofitting carpentry and storage areas for the program while it gauged student interest.

“Animals are definitely the biggest interest for the kids in agriculture, so that became the biggest part of the focus,” Hall said.

The new barn will house several types of animals, and the goal is to reach a point where they’re permanent residents instead of borrowed from area farmers. The barn will be able to accommodate animals up to the size of a horse or cow.

“We farrow a sow every year, so a sow is donated … and we’ll go through the birthing process at the school, so the kids can take part in that and do the care for newborn pigs, and we work with various veterinarians in the area,” Hall said.

In the first semester, the students took in a pregnant cat from the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society and went through the birthing process — ultimately finding homes for all the kittens as well as the mother.

The horticulture program will benefit from a new treehouse and long term could include cropland where ag equipment can be used.

The estimated $5.5 million project was bid a little under budget, and Huff Construction plans to start work in early April as the weather allows.

As part of the project, the CTE carpentry lab also will receive a new addition to connect the program’s main building to the space where students work on house construction.

The new corridors will include an area for cleanup, some bathrooms and storage.

Participation in carpentry offerings has been “really good,” Hall added. “We have a full-time teacher in that program and full classes.”

Students take CTE classes in place of two typical high school class periods. Shuttles run between all Sioux Falls high schools to the CTE Academy.

Construction of the addition is expected to be done a little more than a year from now and be ready to start classes in the fall of 2026.