DUGGER, Ind. (AP) _ One parent says it feels like a miracle that a small southwestern Indiana town has kept its school doors open.

Classes started Monday at Dugger Union Community School for its first day as a K-12 charter school. The opening came after a community response to the Northeast Sullivan School Board's vote to close the Dugger schools because of declining enrollment and revenue.

Some 300 students are expected to attend the school in the town of Dugger, about 30 miles south of Terre Haute.

Summer Bonham tells the Tribune-Star that her eighth grade and fifth grade children were excited about the start of school for the first time in years.

The school is affiliated with Indiana Cyber Charter School and leaders say classes will combine online learning with classroom instruction.