Daily Republic · Oglala, SD
How Maȟpíya Lúta's alumni network became a workforce recruitment strategy
It's hard to say just how many of the current faculty and staff members at Maȟpíya Lúta formerly attended the school themselves. But it's certainly enough to call it a pattern. The private school on the Pine Ridge Reservation has been around for over a century, first as the Holy Rosary Mission, then Red Cloud Indian School. In 2023, it formally changed its name to Maȟpíya Lúta Owáyawa, the Lakota translation. Schools across the state are facing challenges with hiring and retaining staff – especially in Oglala Lakota County, where the school is located. But Maȟpíya Lúta has found outsized success in workforce recruitment, high graduation rates and post-secondary achievement for its students. Much of it can likely be attributed to the fact that alumni of the school seem to come back in droves, whether to work as teachers, support staff or in other positions, according to staff members.