Two Eagle River School: After 50 years, still going strong

In 1973 it was noted that the dropout rate for high school age students in Montana was approximately 16%, and in schools with large numbers of Native American students, the dropout rate was estimated between 38-42%. Those numbers were even higher on the Flathead Indian Reservation, where a study showed that in the nine public school districts 63% of Indian students had quit school prior to acquiring a high school diploma. 

This was the beginning for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to appoint a steering committee comprised of educators and tribal members to develop a plan to meet the educational needs of Indian children on the reservation. This initial committee included Joe McDonald, Daryl Dupuis, Roger McClure, Karen Fenton, Gene Sorrell, Clarice Sanchez (King) and Gerald Slater.

The Flathead Alternative School began out of the notion that much of the alienation, inattention and apathy experienced by Indian students could be traced to an irrelevant or culturally biased curriculum. This committee perceived that the alternative school would take up slack and give Indian students who cannot cope with traditional public schools an opportunity for education. 

It was believed that one way to counteract the problem might be to create a small school characterized by human relationships and respect for cultural diversity. Founders believed a critical ingredient to the success of this school would be the recognition that the Reservation is a bicultural environment.  This fact needed to be recognized while developing an educational process that would help an individual learn the positive attributes of each culture and develop the confidence and skills necessary to achieve their own sense of personal success.

Although many students had left the public schools, they had not completely lost interest in education.  The Flathead Alternative School was organized as an educational alternative for those Salish and Kootenai students who were not functioning in public schools but had a desire to complete a high school education. 

The purpose of the school was not to replace the public high schools but rather to provide a program for Indian students who had dropped out or who had been pushed out of the public schools. A program was developed to give students realistic goals, to foster self-respect, and give students an opportunity to continue their education and to learn their cultural heritage. 

Flathead Alternative School is born

The Flathead Alternative School opened the 1974-’75 school year. The committee had to find building space, funding and staff. 

When plans to start classes in an old Catholic school building fell through, organizers were given space in the Tribes’ CAP building, adjacent to the Flathead River at the Dixon Agency. Students helped paint, remodel, build tables and book cases and turned the old building into classrooms. 

It was noted in the first evaluation report that two bald eagles had built a nest in a snag across the river, the wild geese and ducks were plentiful, and this was a good location for outdoor activities. Funding was through a Title IV grant written under the Tribes Co-operative Indian Educational Program (Lloyd Irvine, director) and the year started with a handful of staff.

Gerald Slater and Clarice Sanchez were among the early staff members, while the other five committee members became the first School Board. Students who were 16 years of age or older and had dropped out of school were the first recruited. 

The first year more than 70 applied but only 38 actually attended. Of those, five went on to be the first graduating class to attain GEDs.

The next major obstacle was to develop a high school credit system that had the flexibility to work with students and had accountability. The contract system was developed based on a success-oriented concept whereby students were not failed but rather received no points/credits until they succeeded.

This “no fail” system, which is still used at Two Eagle River School, provides a sense of accomplishment for the student, accentuates their strengths to build a stronger self-concept and motivates students by redirecting them rather than holding them back as failures. It’s since been accepted by the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

New name, new building

During the next few years, the school moved into several cast-off buildings when the Tribes moved their headquarters to Pablo. In 1977-’78 a contest was held and the school was renamed Two Eagle River School. 

In 1979 TERS became a BIA contract/grant school and went on to receive accreditation from the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges in 1981 and from the State of Montana in 1983. During the late 1980s, an application to BIA was approved for a new building and the move was made to Pablo in 1989. Over time, the school was opened up to all age Native American high school students; seventh and eighth grades were added in 1995. 

To date the school has served a multitude of students, with 730 graduates. The 50th class has a possible 24 graduates.  

Walking through the tribal offices, a visitor might find a Two Eagle River alumni/graduate in almost every department. Currently, 13 of those students have found their way back to Two Eagle River School as employees. They are AJ McDonald, Inismin Auld, Gabby Big Beaver, Marie (Phillips) Bigby, Lena (McLeod) Burland, Vernon Christopher, Daryl Conko-Camel, Tricia McDonald, Tashina McKeever, Espa Orozco, Neena Orozco-Charlo, DJ Piapot, Louie Pierre, Colleen Tenas and Elijah Lefthand. 

Graduate Arnie McDonald Jr. attended the TERS day care when his mother was employed, later enrolled in the Junior High and was in the first eighth-grade graduating class, graduated from high school before serving in the military, and has now returned as an employee.

Over a half century, the school has struggled to know itself, its strengths and its weaknesses, but it has survived and after 50 years is “still going strong.”

Plans are in the works to celebrate this spring with numerous activities. Ideas include alumni basketball and volleyball games, a feast with storytelling, run/walk possibly from Dixon to Pablo, t-shirts, painting a tepee or gym mural, and a powwow. 

Details will be posted in local newspapers and on Facebook.