"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Sequoyah Schools Start August 13

TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - Alarm clocks will ring and sleepy heads will board buses soon, very soon. Sequoyah Schools starts classes on August 13 for grades 7-12. Dorm students may begin moving into the dormitories on August 12 at 12 p.m.

“This is going to be a great year,” said Gina Stanley, Sequoyah superintendent. “We’ve made some really good changes to our student’s schedules and are expecting our largest student body.”

Sequoyah added seventh and eighth grade classes in 2006, after operating as a high school only for more than 20 years. The younger students’ classrooms are housed in the school’s new multipurpose center, The Place Where They Play. The Place Where They Play features four state of the art classrooms on the lower level and the seventh and eighth grade students have the place all to themselves.

“The new building has enabled us to give these kids a place of their own, their own little piece of Sequoyah,” Stanley said. “It worked out great.”

Sequoyah students who do not live in the dorms can catch on one of Sequoyah’s two bus routes that cover Tahlequah and Stilwell. Stops in Tahlequah and surrounding areas will be finalized as the enrollment process progresses.

Stops on the Stilwell bus route include the Keys car wash at 6:10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Oklahoma Station at 6:15 a.m. and 3:40 p.m., Girdner’s Store at 6:20 a.m. and 3:45 p.m., Eubanks Store at 6:25 a.m. and 3:40 p.m., Big “B” Deli #1 at 6:35 a.m. and 3:50 p.m., Hop In at 6:45 a.m. and 3:55 p.m., Maryetta Housing Complex at 6:48 a.m. and 4 p.m., Spade Mountain Store at 7 a.m. and 4:25 p.m., TNT store at 7:10 a.m. and 4:25 p.m., Speedy’s Store at 7:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and Sequoyah School at 7:35 a.m. and 4:50 p.m.

Sequoyah also provides transportation to their students who choose to concurrently enroll in Northeastern State University or Tahlequah Bill Willis Center. Transportation arrangements must be made by contacting Laura Henson, transportation director, phone: 918-453-5183.

Sequoyah Schools, a boarding school for Native American students, originated in 1871 as an orphan asylum to take care of many orphans who came out of the Civil War. It has since served as the Sequoyah Orphan Training School and the Sequoyah Vocational School. Now, it is known as Sequoyah Schools, named for Sequoyah, a scholar who developed the Cherokee syllabary. In November 1985, the Cherokee Nation assumed the operation of Sequoyah. It is regionally and state accredited for grades 7-12 and has become the school of choice for more than 400 high school students every year. From its humble beginning as a school with one building and 40 acres of land, Sequoyah has grown into a modern institution covering more than 90 acres with a dozen major buildings nested on a beautiful campus, five miles southwest of Tahlequah, Okla.

For more information call 918-453-5400.