History
Sequoyah Schools, an Indian boarding school, originated in 1871 when the Cherokee National Council passed an act setting up an orphan asylum to take care of the many orphans who came out of the Civil War. In 1914 the Cherokee National Council authorized Chief Rogers to sell and convey the property of the Cherokee Orphan Training School, including 40 acres of land and all the buildings, to the United States Department of Interior for $5,000. In 1925 the name of the institution was changed to Sequoyah Orphan Training School in honor of Sequoyah, a Cherokee citizen who developed the Cherokee Syllabary. After being known as Sequoyah Vocational School for a time, it was named Sequoyah High School, and in 2006, it added 7th and 8th grades and became known as Sequoyah Schools. From a school with one building and 40 acres of land, Sequoyah Schools has grown into a modern institution covering more than 90 acres and a dozen major buildings nestled on a beautiful campus five miles southwest of the Cherokee Nation capital city of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. In 1985 the Cherokee Nation resumed the operation of Sequoyah Schools. It is regionally and state accredited for grades 7-12. Today, Sequoyah Schools enrolls more than 300 students representing 42 tribes and 14 different states. Students are eligible to attend if they are members of a federally recognized Indian tribe or one-fourth blood descendants of such members.