Kickapoo Nation School

Kickapoo Nation School is a K-12 tribal school in Powhattan, Kansas, United States. It is affiliated with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIE).^[2] It is the sole tribal school in the state.^[3] The school is 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the Kickapoo Indian Reservation.^[4] The school serves, in addition to Kickapoo people, the Potawotami tribe and the Sac and Fox tribe.^[5]

Kickapoo Nation School
Location
400 1st Street Powhattan , Brown County , Kansas 66527 United States
Information
NCES School ID	590010300102[1]
Website	kickapoonationschool.org

History

In 1981 it moved into its current facility, which was formerly used by another school.^[4]

In 2004 Brent Wasko of the St. Joseph News-Press reported that area residents did not positively perceive the school, and that the school community was working to fight that perception.^[5]

Operations

The Kansas Department of Education considers Kickapoo School a "nonpublic" school.^[3] The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) counts it as a public school.^[6]

As of 2006^[update] it admits students not registered in Native American tribes but charges them tuition for them as the BIE only gives money for enrolled members of tribes; a non-tribal family price as of that year was $200 per semester or $100 for one student.^[3]

Curriculum

It has a bilingual English-Kickapoo language program, the only such program in Kansas for an indigenous American language.^[3] The school made efforts to preserve the language.^[4]

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, by 2006 there was positive attention on the school's BIE-funded Family and Child Education (FACE) program which has home-based education for both parents and children.^[3]

As of 2006^[update] the school did not have funds to have laptops for their students compared to public schools that received more funding. However beginning in fall 2006 it planned to establish a virtual learning program to make up for subject matters in which it lacks on-site teachers.^[3]

Student body

In 2004 it had 91 students, all of them being Native American.^[5] In 2016 it had 58 students. Many students come from the Kickapoo reservation and a number reside in Topeka.^[4]

Staff

In 2016 it had eight teachers.^[4]

Athletics

As of 2006^[update] because of relatively low enrollment numbers, athletic programs often struggled to find enough students.^[3] In 2004 the track team had seven members.^[5] By 2016 it was making an attempt to form a track team but it had no athletic teams at all at the moment.^[4]