Cherokee Immersion School

Coordinates: 35°50′45″N 95°00′15″W / 35.84570°N 95.00428°W / 35.84570; -95.00428
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Oklahoma Cherokee language immersion school student writing in the Cherokee syllabary.

The Cherokee Immersion School (ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ, Tsalagi Tsunadeloquasdi) is a

immersion school in Park Hill, Oklahoma, with a Tahlequah post office address.[1][2]
It is for children during pre-school to grade 8.

It was founded by the

Sequoyah High School (grades 9 through 12).[5] Total enrollment was reported to be 141 in August 2018.[5]

Background

There were 1,520 Cherokee speakers out of 376,000 Cherokee in 2018 according to

Eastern Band Cherokee in 2018.[6] In June 2019, the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes declared a state of emergency for the language due to the threat of it going extinct, calling for the enhancement of revitalization programs.[8] A tally by the three tribes had garnered a list of ~2,100 remaining speakers at that time.[8]

The Cherokee language immersion school educates students from pre-school through eighth grade.[9][10] The Department of Education of Oklahoma said that in 2012 state tests: 11% of the school's sixth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 25% showed proficiency in reading; 31% of the seventh-graders showed proficiency in math, and 87% showed proficiency in reading; 50% of the eighth-graders showed proficiency in math, and 78% showed proficiency in reading.[10]

Adams Corner Cherokee language chalk board in schoolhouse.

The Oklahoma Department of Education listed the charter school as a Targeted Intervention school, meaning the school was identified as a low-performing school but has not so that it was a Priority School.

Sequoyah High School
where classes are taught in both English and Cherokee.

In 2022 it was scheduled to occupy the future Durbin Feeling Language Center.[11] The groundbreaking ceremony for that building occurred in May 2021.[12]

Second campus

A second campus was added in November 2021, when the school purchased Greasy School in Greasy, Oklahoma, located in southern Adair County ten miles south of Stilwell.[13] Situated in largest area of Cherokee speakers in the world, the opportunity for that campus is for students to spend the day in an immersion school and then return to a Cherokee-speaking home.[13]

References

  1. U.S. Census Bureau maps. Please note the school is not (as of 2020) in the Tahlequah city limits. The city of Houston stated in 1996 that the US Postal Service does not match city names of postal addresses to actual municipal boundaries
    .
  2. U.S. Census Bureau
    . p. 1 (PDF p. 2/3). Retrieved 2022-07-20. - Compare to the physical location indicated by the postal address.
  3. ^ Overall, Michael (Feb 7, 2018). "As first students graduate, Cherokee immersion program faces critical test: Will the language survive?". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  4. ^ "Immersion School". Cherokee Nation. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Crawford, Grant (August 15, 2018). "Cherokees learning the language". Tahlequah Daily Press. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Cherokee: A Language of the United States". Ethnologue. SIL International. 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  7. ^ Ridge, Betty (Apr 11, 2019). "Cherokees strive to save a dying language". Tahlequah Daily Press. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  8. ^ a b McKie, Scott (June 27, 2019). "Tri-Council declares State of Emergency for Cherokee language". Cherokee One Feather. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  9. ^ Chavez, Will (April 5, 2012). "Immersion students win trophies at language fair". Cherokeephoenix.org. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Cherokee Immersion School Strives to Save Tribal Language". Youth on Race. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  11. ^ Hunter, Chad (2022-02-06). "Cherokee Immersion School grows over two decades". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  12. ^ "Cherokee Nation breaks ground on historic Durbin Feeling Language Center". Anadosgoi. Cherokee Nation Businesses. 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  13. ^ a b "Cherokee Immersion announces second campus". Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, Tulsa World, November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.

35°50′45″N 95°00′15″W / 35.84570°N 95.00428°W / 35.84570; -95.00428

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