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Programs for Lakota children in need

Lakota children in need of a safe, stable education and culturally-rich home environment have turned to St. Joseph’s Indian School for over 85 years ... at absolutely no financial cost.

	Residential Living St. Joseph’s Indian School has a unique residential, group-home living program. Read more » Each of the 19 homes on campus have houseparents who provide loving care in a safe and stable environment. Children are helped with homework, assigned chores and offered guidance and encouragement to achieve all they can. Each home has 12 children, making the adult to student ration 1:6.
	Private School Privately owned and operated by the Priests of the Sacred Heart, St. Joseph’s Indian School offers a quality education for children in first through eighth grades. Read more » Children benefit from the small class sizes (12 students per classroom) and personalized attention. The high school program assists up to 40 Lakota high school students who attend Chamberlain High School, but live on St. Joseph’s campus. Between the two programs, approximately 200 students are helped each year.
	Cultural Awareness Preserving and sharing the Lakota (Sioux) culture is core to St. Joseph’s Indian School programs. In addition, the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center is located on campus for students and visitors alike to broaden their knowledge of the Lakota (Sioux) culture. Read more » Appreciation of the culture is infused in the daily life both at school and in the homes. Our Native American Studies classes focus on Lakota language, culture and traditions. We have an on-staff cultural expert and also regularly invite Lakota (Sioux) advisors to assist with additional programming. Students have the opportunity to take part in numerous cultural activities such as: Dance club that teaches traditional Indian dance and songs Powwow competitions, including our annual powwow held on campus each year Traditional drum group Sweat lodges Cultural trips And much more

	Religious Education Though St. Joseph’s Indian School is Catholic-based, we welcome children of all faiths. Read more » We provide spiritual education through religion classes and for Catholic children, offer additional instruction through catechism, baptism, confirmation and other services. At St. Joseph's, we firmly believe spiritual awareness and education are the first steps toward healthy, successful living.
	Health Care - mind and body The Freimann Healthcare Center, located on our campus, has a part time doctor and two full-time nurses. Read more » All childcare workers are trained to deal with minor health problems and have studied basic First Aid and CPR. Each student has a trained and caring family service counselor who works one-on-one with the student and his or her family. They are always available to assist the student and their family with issues that may arise.
	Outreach and Other Programs The work at St. Joseph’s Indian School isn’t confined to the Chamberlain, South Dakota campus. Read more » We reach out to Native American people and communities in a variety of ways: Distribute over $50,000 in college scholarships each year Support projects and missions on three South Dakota Indian Reservations Operate a battered women’s shelter Offer a month-long day camp program for Native American children on the reservation Operate a bookmobile distributing free reading material to South Dakota reservations in the summer Run two thrift stores Conduct various food and clothing drives for reservation families And much, much more!