Meskwaki Settlement School

The Meskwaki Indian Settlement is located along the Iowa River about 17 miles southeast of Marshalltown, Iowa and 6 miles west of the sister communities of Tama and Toledo, Iowa. Since Proclamation Day, July 13, 1857, when the Settlement was established, it has grown to over 8,000 acres. There are about 1,300 members of the Meskwaki Tribe with about 800 living on the Settlement.

Originally, the Sac and Fox Settlement School was established as a Day School by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Next, it became part of the South Tama County Community School District, an Iowa public school system. In 1972, the school was closed and tribal members applied for the school to become BIA operated. In 1980, the Sac and Fox Settlement School became a tribally operated school, first as a contract school and now as a grant school.

In the early 1990's it was determined that additional facilities were needed to accommodate the growing number of students. Therefore, an early childhood center was established in a tribal building located one mile from the main school building. In addition, portable trailers were stationed on the main school grounds to accommodate those classes and programs remaining at the main school building. The completion of a new state of the art school building in 2001 brought everyone under the same roof. The new school building originally houses Early Childhood through 8th grade. Starting with the 2003/2004 school year, a grade was added each year until the 2006/2007 school year when we had our first class of graduating seniors. In In the spring of 2007, construction of the Meskwaki High School began. Upon it's completion in the fall of 2009, the 7th through 12th grade moved to their new home.

The mission of the school since the 1980's has been, and continues to be, the preservation of the Meskwaki culture and language and preparation of all students to become productive citizens.