Zhongkeng Elementary School

Zhongkeng Elementary School began as a branch school in 1952 and became independent in 1955. In 2021, the school converted to Montessori-method experimental education, becoming Taiwan's first public elementary school to fully adopt the approach. Zhongkeng sits within Atayal traditional territory in Heping District, though unlike some neighboring schools it is not itself an Indigenous-focus school; its pivot to Montessori education instead reflects a broader trend among Heping's small, rural schools toward experimental education models as a response to rural depopulation.

中坑國小於1952年以分校形式設立，1955年（民國44年）正式獨立設校。2021年，學校轉型為蒙特梭利實驗教育，成為全台第一所全面採用蒙特梭利教學法的公立小學。中坑國小座落於和平區的泰雅族傳統領域範圍內，但與鄰近部分學校不同，本身並非以原住民族教育為主軸；其轉向蒙特梭利教育的選擇，反映了和平區小型偏鄉學校為因應人口外流而轉向實驗教育模式的普遍趨勢。