Historical He Dog Day School
The following information was taken from Dr. Donald P. Barnhart's Masters Thesis, written while he was Principal at He Dog Elementary from 1960-1963:
He Dog's Camp Day School opened in the fall of 1893. The enrollment was 31. In June of 1935 He Dog's Camp Day School was closed. The consolidated day school was erected three and one half miles west and south of Parmelee, South Dakota. This new site was seven miles east of the former site. The new school, sometimes referred to as a "community school," was called He Dog Consolidated Day School in honor of He Dog, a Lakota Chief. He Dog Consolidated Day School opened in September of 1935. The grades taught were grades one through nine. The enrollment was 172; the average daily attendance was 105. He Dog was the first and last day school to offer a ninth grade education to Indian children on the Rosebud Reservation. The new school might logically have been named Cut Meat Consolidated Day School. The Cut Meat Day School had been located 400 yards South of the new consolidated day school. Cut Meat Day School was closed in 1935. The children enrolled in the new He Dog Consolidated Day School. There were only four classrooms in the new He Dog Consolidated Day School. They were located on the second floor of the building. The first floor had a playroom, arts and crafts room and a sewing room. There were modern conveniences, which included electricity, indoor toilets, a piped-in water supply and water fountains. There were five teachers, including the Principal, for an enrollment of 172 pupils. The first step toward public school education of the Indian children attending He Dog School was taken by the Todd County Board of Education on August 24, 1950. The public school (a one-room elementary school) in Parmelee, South Dakota, was closed and consolidated with He Dog by a unanimous vote of all board members. Every item connected with the He Dog School was transferred to the Todd County Board of Education and was to be maintained by the county school district. |
There were five cottages, one school building, two garages, two workshops, and one fuel shed. By 1961 the school had come to include, nine modern and completely furnished teacher cottages, one kindergarten building, one school building, two garages, and two septic tank buildings. The total number of pupils enrolled was 198.
There have been many physical improvements at He Dog School since it became a public school in 1953. There are now seven classrooms in the main building that are fully equipped and well lighted. A complete playground with playground equipment is located to the north of the school building. Cement walks encircle the entire school building. A complete all-day kindergarten classroom is now available with all the necessary materials. The three school buses are equipped with two-way radios that communicate with the principal's office and with the district superintendent's office in Mission, South Dakota. A suburban is provided for the principal and the home-school coordinator to use in their work. Safe drinking water is supplied from a well drilled west of the school building. Monthly water samples are sent to the Department of Public Health in Pierre, South Dakota. |