Employment

The Lakota Waldorf School (LWS) is a small but developing K-8 Grade school located in the southwestern corner of South Dakota. Surrounded by rolling plains, dramatic sun settings and breathtaking badlands, the school sits in the center of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The nearest city is Rapid City, 90 miles northwest of Kyle, SD.

Founded in 1993 by parents and educators of the community, the Lakota Waldorf School (LWS) is the only Waldorf School in North America located on an Indian Reservation. Our mission is to provide a Waldorf Education integrated with a Lakota language and culture program for children (Grade K-8) living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation – one of the poorest Indian Reservations in the country.

While helping students to develop the academic, social, and practical resources to meet the challenges of today’s world, LWS’s educational programs work to reinforce a strong cultural identity and foundation for Lakota language fluency. (The Lakota language, a dialect of Sioux, is classified by UNESCO as vulnerable to extinction.) The philosophy and methods of Waldorf are closely aligned with how indigenous children learn through the rhythms of nature, song, storytelling, dramatic plays, and community celebration. Most importantly, it supports oral language learning—the foundation to preserving the culture and identity of indigenous people.