Red Cloud Indian School

The school was founded in 1888 as Holy Rosary Mission. The Jesuits and Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity founded the institution at the request of Chief Red Cloud. Once the school had been approved, the construction of the main mission building began. All of the bricks for the building were made from local clay and lime on the grounds of what is today Red Cloud Indian School's Pine Ridge campus. It was the only two-story building in the area. The four-school, K–12 school system was renamed Red Cloud in 1969. Red Cloud High School opened in 1937. Five students graduated from the school in 1942, with Oryal Cuny as the salutatorian and Lyle Clifford as the valedictorian. Classes became integrated and the boarding parts of the school were closed. The farms associated with the school were converted to various uses like football fields, field houses, and parking lots. In 1969, Holy Rosary Mission was officially renamed Red Cloud Indian School, both as a token of respect for the man whose work had made the school possible and as part of a program of re-identification to emphasize its native-American roots over cultural imperialism, and the lasting bond between groups from two separate cultures who wanted to enhance the best parts of both worlds to serve the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In 1980 the remaining dormitories closed. ==Present day==

• Red Cloud High School boasts 72 Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients, the highest per capita in the country. • Seniors have been awarded full tuition with room and board at Dartmouth College, Stanford University, Duke University, Marquette University, University of Denver, and Creighton University, among many others. • All graduates have plans to further their education and training, attending more than 25 colleges today, like Princeton, Arizona State, New Mexico, and Black Hills State. • All of high school students volunteer on the reservation. Some travel as far as Washington DC to give back to other communities. • The Heritage Center is home to 10,000 pieces of the Native American contemporary and historical Lakota art, which has all been digitally cataloged. • The Red Cloud Indian Art Show welcomes nearly 200 artists, both seasoned professionals and emerging young artists, to showcase their work each year. • Outreach programs confront addictions like alcohol and drugs head-on, and offer health and wellness initiatives to families who may not have access to these programs otherwise. • More than 800 families are served through pastoral ministry programs in the various church communities. ==Curriculum==

The school has Lakota language classes. The school began teaching the language in 1967. ==See also==