At the foot of Pocahontas Mountain a few miles northeast of Hartshorne, tucked into a peaceful country backdrop of mountain and forest in southeast Oklahoma’s Ouachita range, a special event occurred for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma that also benefits all Native Americans.

     After many years and the generosity of numerous donors and friends of Jones Academy, Jones Academy dedicated its new Elementary Academic Building in a ceremony September 4 on the Academy grounds.

     The Jones Academy Elementary Academic Building is a new state-of-the-art facility housing the academic program for students in grades 1-6. Students in grades 7-12 continue to attend classes in Hartshorne Public Schools. The cost of the new facility is significant. In addition to the $10 million investment in the building, the Choctaw Nation provides $250,000 per year toward its operating expenses.

    “The Choctaw Nation has heavily invested in the development of a well-designed facility and academic program so that each Indian child at Jones Academy will have the opportunity to grow and develop academically, socially, morally, and physically,” stated Gregory E. Pyle, Chief of the Choctaw Nation.

    “We want to ensure that American Indian students have the opportunity to learn in a safe and supportive environment which adequately prepares them to pursue a college degree or enter the world prepared to work after graduation,” said Pyle.

    Much thought and planning went into the design of the 40,273-square-foot facility, according to Academy Director Brad Spears. The plan easily allows expansion to accommodate future growth, he says.

    To conserve energy the building is heated and cooled by a highly efficient geotherman HVAC system which takes maximum advantage of the earth’s stable ground temperature. To protect occupants against Oklahoma’s severe weather, the building was designed with strategically located safe rooms capable of accommodating the entire building population.

    Esthetic and cultural issues were included in the design. The building’s curved corridor represents the circle of education. According to Native tradition, elders pass their wisdom to younger generations, who will, in turn, pass this wisdom on to future generations. The location of grades within the building wings is symbolic of the sun. The youngest grades are in the east wing, closest to the rising sun. Older grades are located progressively to the west representing the movement of the sun as it grows “older” in the sky during the day.

Classroom and facility design features are impressive:

• Bathrooms inside the classrooms

• A lighting system proven to help children do better in school

• Lights that sense when the room is empty and turn off automatically

• Independent temperature controls in each classroom

• A library with large windows, a story-telling room, and an outdoor reading porch with a view of the wooded hillside

• Access to outdoor classroom and garden  areas where teachers will be able to incorporate nature into the curriculum

• Wireless technology provisions

• A half-gym accessible from indoors

     The need for this level of commitment to younger Indian education is urgent according to Spears. “National statistics report that American Indian students now hold one of the highest secondary school dropout rates and lowest postsecondary graduation rates of any ethnic group in the United States,” he says. “We hope to ensure that Jones Academy students do not become part of these dismal statistics.”

An historic role in Indian education

     Founded in 1891 by the Choctaw Nation as a school for Indian boys, the academy was named after Wilson N. Jones, a Choctaw Chief born in Mississippi who traveled with his family to Oklahoma over The Trail of Tears. For the next six decades Jones Academy was both home and school for Indian boys. In 1955 Jones became a coed facility when Wheelock Academy, a Choctaw facility for girls, was closed and its 55 female students transferred to Jones.

     In 1952 the federal government removed all academic and vocational activities from Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funded schools in an attempt to better expose Indian students to the broader American culture. The move sent a wave through Native American education causing a great many Indian schools to permanently close. Jones Academy, however, remained open. Its students were sent to local schools while Jones served as their home.

     It would be more than 30 years, two public laws (PL 93-638, PL 100-297) and the Tribally Controlled Schools Grant Act before Indian tribes would once again be allowed to operate their own schools – and the Choctaws moved quickly to do so. In 1985 the Choctaws contracted the boarding school operation from BIA. In 1988 under the Tribally Controlled Schools Grant Act the Choctaws became the first American Indian tribe in the United States to once again operate their own school. Jones Academy was returned to its original purpose – a residential school where Indian children of special circumstances could both live and learn.

     The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has always believed in education. With help from the BIA, the Choctaws were the first American Indian tribe to establish schools in Oklahoma. Today, within its tribal government, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has 20 separate education=oriented programs nurturing its students from pre-school through university and collegiate preparation, placement and scholarship advisement.

      To learn more to help Jones Academy

To learn more about Jones Academy – or to help or donate – please contact Joy Culbreath, Choctaw Nation Executive Education Director, toll-free at 800-522-6170, ext. 2308, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Jones Academy Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, provides interested donors a variety of ways to meet Jones Academy needs. Donations to the endowment fund are matched and 100 percent of all donations go to Jones. Jones Academy also seeks funds for Evening Enrichment Programs as well as supplies such as musical instruments, arts and crafts supplies and fine arts supplies.