How a high-achieving school in one of America's poorest areas is saving the local community

Courtesy of Thomas Hynes

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota is one of the poorest areas in the United States. People who live in the community, many of whom are Lakota, face a lack of economic opportunity and grim healthcare statistics.

The otherwise neglected corner of the country is also home to the Red Cloud Indian School, an academic institution of high achievers. Over 95% of the graduating class of 2017 will attend colleges across the country, including Brown University, Creighton, the University of South Dakota, as well as the University of California. One recent graduate from the Class of 2017 was accepted to seven Ivy League schools.

Life on the reservation is immensely challenging, but there is also resilience and hope. Red Cloud Indian School, which has been providing Lakota children with a holistic, high-quality education for over 125 years, is a big source of that hope.

The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota has been home to the Oglala Lakota Sioux Nation since the conclusion of the American Indian Wars in the late 19th Century.

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Pine Ridge covers more than 2.8 million acres, nearly the size of Connecticut, making it one of the largest reservations in the country.

Courtesy of Thomas Hynes

The reservation includes Wounded Knee, site of the 1890 massacre of 150 unarmed women, children and elderly at the hands of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment.

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