$6.4 million immersion education project in the works for Enemy Swim Day School

Enemy Swim Day School has announced an expansion project that would allow for the housing of the Immersion Education and Family and Child Education program.  

The project would add an additional 18,000 square feet to the school and cost about $6.4 million, Superintendent Nadine Eastman said in an email. 

The space would house a special education learning resource lab and reception area for the school and include the addition of four immersion classrooms, a cultural studies and practical and fine arts classroom, an indoor recess/cultural games area and a Family Dakotah Language Nest area. 

Enemy Swim Day School in Waubay offers classes in preschool through eighth grade.

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The school currently has between $2 million and $3 million available, while the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate has passed a motion to provide another $2 million, Eastman said.

Last week, she said, the school made its first request to the Bureau of Indian Education to cost-share the project. If the bureau does not approve funding for the project, Eastman said the school might seek a loan or reduce the square footage. 

Dakotah language in danger

The Dakotah language is a vital part of the identity of Dakotah people and is currently on track to extinction, Eastman said. Enemy Swim Day School’s expansion project will focus on a Dakotah language immersion effort, which is a need within Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribal schools, she said.

The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Council declared a state of emergency in 2008 concerning the language. And the were only 53 fluent Dakotah language speakers on the Lake Traverse Reservation in 2018. Now, that number has decreased to fewer than 50, said Eastman. That’s only about 0.004% of the reservation’s population. The COVID-19 pandemic also caused a loss of fluent speakers who were elderly, said Eastman. 

The school has committed to helping language revitalization efforts, she said. The school’s goal is to have 100% of eighth-grade graduates able to speak the Dakotah language conversationally.

Kindergarten immersion has already started

Kindergarten immersion actually began in the 2020-21 school year. This school year, Enemy Swim is transitioning to first-grade immersion. The school next hopes to have full immersion classes through the third grade. After that, it hopes to continue immersion classes through eighth grade. 

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The revitalization effort doesn’t stop with the language. The project’s cultural studies area and the practical and fine arts cultural classroom would allow students to learn traditional Dakotah song and dance, as well as how to sew and create traditional outfits and draw, paint and sculpt. Students would also be able to participate in traditional storytelling and prepare traditional food and medicine.

Gifted program for cultural, performing arts

Enemy Swim has a gifted program for cultural and performing arts. Students in that program would be able to use the new space. The indoor recess and cultural games area would allow students to learn traditional games and for indoor recesses during the winter months. 

The expansion’s Family Dakotah Language Nest area would provide a space for the whole family to learn the Dakotah language. That could involve a number of actives like eating together or participating in chores.

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In addition to the Family and Child Education program and Special Education Resource Learning Lab, the expansion would include office, conference and storage areas, Eastman said in her email.

A bill that would have funded immersion schools focused on Oceti Sakowin language and culture in the state’s public school system was defeated during the recent legislative session.