About Us // De La Salle Blackfeet School

About Us

About De La Salle Blackfeet School

In the early 1990s, Little Flower Catholic Parish Council and Pastor, along with Blackfeet Elders from the larger community, voiced their concerns about the well-being of their children. Their children were struggling because of the challenges that stemmed from generations of conflict, complex identity issues, and community struggle resulting from the colonization of their ancestral lands. It is nothing short of miraculous that the Blackfeet People continue to work towards their success in the face of the historical destruction of critical resources, their massacre at the hands of U.S. Army officials, the establishment of the reservation and boarding school systems, and the introduction of alcohol and a western mindset favoring an individualism foreign to the Niitsitapi (“The Real People'' in the Blackfeet Language).

Now in its twenty-third year, De La Salle Blackfeet School (DLSBS) continues to bridge the Blackfeet, Lasallian, and Catholic communities to unite a family of prayerful people. The emergence of De La Salle Blackfeet School marked a long overdue compassionate response to the needs of the Blackfeet Community. DLSBS's education approach focuses on fostering community collaboration and support. We seek to educate all of our stakeholders to uphold justice, heal traumas of colonization, and build a future where all people are respected. Most importantly, this work is accomplished through the accompaniment of our students’ growing their own sense of identity, self-confidence, and power to shape their communities. The story of De La Salle Blackfeet School underscores the importance of community agency and our accompaniment in protecting and celebrating the Blackfeet People’s heritage, transcending the limitations and traumatic effects imposed by history.

De La Salle Blackfeet offers a quality, dynamic education with small, culturally responsive classes promoting interactive experiential learning. Students are equipped with iPads and Chromebooks for modern instruction, and the extended school days (8:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M.) are filled with engagement and enthusiasm. Our extended school day includes silent study & tutoring time as well as enrichment club activities to encourage development of students’ passions.

To educate others about the realities of tribal life, especially within the Lasallian World, DLSBS initiated the OKI-NI-SOO-KA-WA (“Come and See”) Blackfeet Immersion Program. This program invites student groups of 10-14 people for a one-week experience, during which participants tour Blackfeet cultural sites, engage in discussions with tribal leaders, and support DLSBS students while sharing their own dreams. The program not only exposes volunteers to the rich culture and heritage of the Blackfeet but also transforms the participants who live in and experience this dynamic educational environment.

Despite its success, DLSBS faces financial challenges. The school requires the assistance of a larger, caring community to provide resources for students including school supplies, a 1:1 technology program, facilities maintenance and improvements, transportation needs, educational and social-emotional support, and adequate compensation to teaching staff. The donations provided to our school ministry have a demonstrable and immediate impact on the lives of our students and the larger Blackfeet Community.

Thank you for your support of our school ministry and the success of our students!

St. John Baptist de La Salle….. Pray for Us!

Live Jesus in Our Hearts….. Forever!!!

Mission and Philosophy

Mission Statement

De La Salle Blackfeet School serves young people on the Blackfeet Reservation offering accessible Catholic education with extended school days, small class sizes, and a community focus.

In this work:

We support our students in all they hold dear as Niitsiitapii.

We see the face of Creator God in students and one another.

We believe that each student can excel through varied ways of learning.

Therefore:

We bridge the Blackfeet, Lasallian, and Catholic communities to unite a family of prayerful people.

We educate our stakeholders to uphold justice, heal traumas of colonization, and build a future where all people are respected.

We accompany our students in growing their power to shape our communities.

Philosophy and Approach to Education

De La Salle Blackfeet School is a Lasallian San Miguel school dedicated to creating an environment that recognizes the reality of God’s living presence and nurtures the dignity of each student within a supportive community of teachers, parents, and guardians. We aim to develop individuals who are:

Strong in self esteem, cultural identity, competence and faith.

Sensitive to the poor and to the sacredness of all life.

Inspired to bring their full creativity to their personal lives

Our innovative, student centered curriculum uses culturally sensitive methods to nurture each student’s imagination and creativity while challenging them to develop critical thinking and academic skills in the areas of reading, writing, and math. We keep classes small: a maximum of 16 students. We provide an extended day from 8:15 AM – 4:30 PM with plenty of experiential enrichment, sports activities, and weekly Blackfeet/Pikuni Studies class imparts to students a strong sense of their cultural heritage.

San Miguel Schools

De La Salle Blackfeet School is part of a network of schools following the San Miguel Model of Education. There are 11 San Miguel schools throughout the country. DLSBS is the only Network school in a rural area, and the first serving primarily Native Americans.

All San Miguel schools are Catholic, serve predominantly at-risk populations, are not tuition driven, have extended school days, small class size, and extend support to students beyond graduation.

The Mission of the San Miguel Network of Schools is to enhance the viability and vitality of member schools and strengthen their capacity to deliver a uniquely effective, faith-based education to the middle school students in their care.

From the President

Br. Dale J. Mooney Welcome to the De La Salle Blackfeet School website. Established in 2001 by the Midwest District of the Christian Brothers, DLSBS stands alone in many regards. Uniquely among the Lasallian Schools, it serves a remote region on an Indian Reservation bordered by Canada to the north and Glacier National Park to the west. Furthermore, it is the only San Miguel school providing quality Catholic educational advantages to the economically disadvantaged in a rural setting. To strengthen its Catholic identity, the school forges a supportive relationship with the Diocese of Helena along with the Christian Brothers. De La Salle Blackfeet has the privilege of being the only Catholic School on an Indian Reservation in this Western Montana diocese.

As a school surrounded by the above characteristics, De La Salle Blackfeet depends on the generosity of so many individuals. Since the beginning, the school has been heavily staffed by volunteers coming from virtually every region of the country as demonstrated by Jeb Myers. He was the first principal who served for five years with other members of his family. With a sprinkling of paid employees, the school staff has produced almost one hundred alumni. Nearly all have graduated from high school and many are continuing professional studies.

As is true of other San Miguel Schools, parents contribute toward their children’s education. Since seventy percent of our children are raised by adults other than their parents, it might be difficult to assume responsibility for our minimal tuition. For those who cannot, we ask them to provide some form of service to the school. This collaborative effort is essential for the education of this Pikuni generation. (Pikuni is how the Blackfeet call themselves.)

Finally, we depend on people like you to provide the bulk of the financial obligations to operate this rare educational opportunity for the children entrusted to our care. You, and the foundations that you represent or with whom you partner, have assured our success in the past and can continue to provide necessary support well into the future. Enjoy the information provided on this web site. I ask you to continue following your heart and give of your resources so that, together, we can prepare children for their future and ours.

Thank you,

Brother Dale J. Mooney

President

Saint Miguel Febres Cordero
St. John Baptist de La Salle

Saint Miguel Febres Cordero

Patron Saint of Miguel Schools

Born in 1854 to a family of prominence in Ecuadorian politics, Miguel was crippled from birth and had to overcome family opposition to realize his vocation to be a lay religious. He was the first native of Ecuador to be received into the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. A gifted teacher, he was not quite 20 years old when he published the first of his many books. Teaching remained his first priority. Transferred to the junior novitiate at Premia del Mar in Spain during a revolutionary outbreak in 1909, he supervised a dramatic evacuation of his young charges to the safety of Barcelona across the bay. Shortly after they were able to return, he contracted pneumonia and died.

Died February 9, 1910

Beatified October 30, 1977

Canonized October 21, 1984

St. John Baptist de La Salle

Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Patron of Christian Teachers

John Baptist de La Salle was born into a world very different from our own. He was the first son of wealthy parents living in France over 300 years ago. Born at Reims, John Baptist de La Salle received the tonsure at age eleven and was named Canon of the Reims Cathedral at sixteen. Though he had to assume the administration of family affairs after his parents died, he completed his theological studies and was ordained a priest on April 9, 1678.Two years later he received a doctorate in theology. Meanwhile he became tentatively involved with a group of rough and barely literate young men in order to establish schools for poor boys.

At that time a few people lived in luxury, but most of the people were extremely poor: peasants in the country, and slum dwellers in the towns. Only, a few could send their children to school; most children had little hope for the future. Moved by the plight of the poor who seemed so “far from salvation” either in this world or the next, he determined to put his own talents and advanced education at the service of the children “often left to themselves and badly brought up.” To be more effective, he abandoned his family home, moved in with the teachers, renounced his position as Canon and his wealth, and so formed the community that became known as the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

His enterprise met opposition from the ecclesiastical authorities who resisted the creation of a new form of religious life, a community of consecrated laymen to conduct gratuitous schools“together and by association.” The educational establishment resented his innovative methods and his insistence on gratuity for all, regardless of whether they could afford to pay. Nevertheless De La Salle and his Brothers succeeded in creating a network of quality schools throughout France that featured instruction in the vernacular, students grouped according to ability and achievement, integration of religious instruction with secular subjects, well-prepared teachers with a sense of vocation and mission, and the involvement of parents.

In addition, De La Salle pioneered in programs for training lay teachers, Sunday courses for working young men, and one of the first institutions in France for the care of delinquents. Worn out by austerities and exhausting labours, he died at Saint Yon near Rouen early in 1719 on Good Friday, only weeks before his sixty-eighth birthday.

John Baptist de La Salle was a pioneer in founding training colleges for teachers, reform schools for delinquents, technical schools, and secondary schools for modern languages, arts, and sciences. His work quickly spread through France and, after his death, continued to spread across the globe. In 1900 John Baptist de La Salle was declared a Saint. In 1950, because of his life and inspirational writings, he was made Patron Saint of all those who work in the field of education. John Baptist de La Salle inspired others how to teach and care for young people, how to meet failure and frailty with compassion, how to affirm, strengthen and heal. At the present time there are De La Salle schools in 80 different countries around the globe.

Born at Reims, France April 30, 1651

Ordained priest April 9, 1678

Died April 7, 1719

Beatified February 19, 1888

Canonized May 24, 1900

Proclaimed Patron of Christian Teachers May 15, 1950

Affiliates

Western Catholic Education Association

The WCEA specializes in accrediting Catholic schools across the western United States and Canada through a process that determines the quality of a school’s overall Catholic Identity and educational program to understand what is working well for the total school community and what it needs to do better to meet the learning needs of the students and to ensure long-term viability and vitality.

providing accredited Continuing Education (CE) courses from leading educators to organizations, helping learners meet their CPD requirements across a number of sectors, including nursing, medical, pharmacy, veterinary, eyecare and dental, delivered through our leading Learning Management System.

Alliance for Catholic Education

Since the program’s founding in 1993, ACE has strengthened K-12 schools through innovative practices in four realms integral to school transformation: forming talent, expanding access, enhancing school vitality, and conducting research on school improvement.

Today, with a presence in every state in the country, we strive to ensure that all children, regardless of background, have the opportunity to receive an excellent Catholic education.

Bureau of Catholic and Indian Missions

The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions is a Catholic charity that was established in Washington, D.C. in 1874 to advocate for the needs of Catholic Native Americans. Supporting building projects, staffing schools, enabling parish religious education programs, raising awareness of the needs of Native American and Alaska Native Catholics, and calling others to share this mission has been at the heart of the Bureau’s work since its founding.

Christian Brothers of the Midwest District

The Christian Brothers Midwest District is one of four Districts in the Lasallian Region of North America, also known as the Région Lasallienne de l’Amérique du Nord (RELAN). RELAN is comprised of Lasallian ministries in the United States and Canada. The Midwest District encompasses seven states and includes 3 universities, 13 high schools, 4 middle schools, 4 retreat centers, 2 publishing houses, 1 pastoral leadership formation institute, and 1 Provincialate Office. Within the District there are over 130 Brother and hundreds of their lay partners, all working together to further the mission of the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

Diocese of Helena

The Diocese of Helena was established on March 7, 1884, and initially included the entire state of Montana. Its present boundaries were established on May 18, 1904, when the Diocese of Great Falls (now Great Falls-Billings) was formed from its territory. The diocese covers 51,922 square miles of western and north central Montana, encompassing 21 counties and parts of two others. The diocese’s 57 parishes and 38 missions are structured into six deaneries: Bozeman, Butte, Conrad, Helena, Kalispell, and Missoula.

NCEA

NCEA is the largest, private professional education association in the world. NCEA works with Catholic educators to support ongoing faith formation and the teaching mission of the Catholic Church. Our membership includes more than 150,000 educators serving 1.9 million students in Catholic education.

As a professional association whose focus is Catholic school education, NCEA’s focus is to lead, learn and proclaim by:

Developing current and future leaders;
Providing educational resources and strategically expanding professional development opportunities for those committed to the mission of Catholic education; and
Serving as the national voice for Catholic schools.

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame was founded in November 1842 by Rev. Edward F. Sorin, C.S.C., a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a French missionary order. It is located adjacent to South Bend, Indiana, the center of a metropolitan area with a population of more than 300,000. Chartered by the state of Indiana in 1844, the University was governed by the Holy Cross priests until 1967, when governance was transferred to a two-tiered, mixed board of lay and religious trustees and fellows.