Looking to the future

We are working to fulfill our mission by training new advanced fluent speakers of n̓səl̓xčin̓ and forging connections among those new speakers to rebuild a Salish speaking language-culture community. This is a daunting task.

Successes

Using the n̓səl̓xčin̓ fluency transfer system build with Sʕamtíc̓aʔ, Salish School of Spokane is now training 26 Salish immersion teachers and cultural leaders. Our goal is to train many advanced fluent adult speakers who will be able to raise their children in Salish, act as Salish language teachers and evangelists, and engage in Salish immersion cultural practices and ceremonies.

Students at Salish School of Spokane are becoming fluent in n̓səl̓xčin̓ and are also immersed in cultural teachings and traditions: drumming, singing, gathering traditional foods, dancing, caring for and riding horses, and practicing land stewardship. SSOS students also demonstrate excellent literacy, math and science achievement, as well as strong leadership and social emotional skills. The parents of all of our students are also Salish language learners.

Challenges

Our immediate challenges going forward are: 1) finding the financial resources needed to sustain our Salish immersion schooling and teacher training programs; 2) creating more n̓səl̓xčin̓ curriculum materials for language arts, science, and social studies, and; 3) building a new, larger facility with more classrooms, a gym, cafeteria, commercial kitchen, and space for cultural activities.

Sustaining Our Program

As an independent, non-profit charitable organization, Salish School of Spokane does not receive regular funding from any governmental or tribal source. To fund our work, we rely on donations from individuals and businesses, grants from private foundations, tuition from the families that we serve, and limited government grants. In the near term, we are working to expand our base of individual donors and make our mission and work known to more philanthropic foundations. 

The goal for our 2024 Annual Campaign is $250,000.

Creating New Curriculum

Salish School of Spokane has a strong need for additional n̓səl̓xčin̓ language curriculum materials. We have successfully translated more than 500 graded reading books to n̓səl̓xčin̓, and we have translated and prepared n̓səl̓xčin̓ math books that go from kindergarten up to pre-algebra for 8th grade.

Now we are working on creating additional n̓səl̓xčin̓ language science materials, as well as beginning the development of n̓səl̓xčin̓ language social studies materials.

Our curriculum development work is an intense, human resource-driven effort dependent upon our ability to train and retain new, advanced fluent speakers of n̓səl̓xčin̓. As more adults become highly fluent, they are able to help to translate and create more n̓səl̓xčin̓ curriculum materials.


Planning for Our Future Facilities Needs

Since 2013, we have made many improvements to our current facility on Maple Street. While initially renting, we renovated and repaired the buildings, and then from 2020 to 2022 we were able to purchase the site on a contract, add a two-classroom modular building, and renovate the playground and parking areas. In 2023, we paid off the balance owing on the note. As proud as we are of our little school campus, it is just too small for everything that we are trying to do. We need a commercial kitchen, a cafeteria, and a gymnasium, as well as more classroom and office space. Right now, we do not have a space where all students and staff can gather together, much less accommodate parents, students, and staff all together for cultural activities or student performances.

To empower our work and honor our language learners, we are working to build new school facilities. Salish School of Spokane at River Haven will have eight classrooms, increased office space, and will include a Cultural and Recreational Center (CRC) with a commercial kitchen, gymnasium, fitness room, classrooms, and cultural space. The project is being powered by a donation of land and facilities to Salish School of Spokane by Catholic Charities Eastern Washington. The total cost for the new school facilities is $10 million. We have already been awarded a federal HUD grant of $2.7 million for the CRC, and we are now working to raise an additional $7.3 million to fully fund the project and begin building. Please check back later for more information about our new Salish School of Spokane Capital Campaign. 


How you can help

We are working to fulfill our mission by training new advanced fluent speakers of n̓səl̓xčin̓ and forging connections among those new speakers to rebuild a Salish speaking language-culture community. This is a daunting task. There are no cases of success for us to follow, since no language as endangered as n̓səl̓xčin̓ has ever been fully revitalized to be the language of daily life for a renewed language-culture community. But that is the possibility that we want to create.

Individuals can help our school by directly donating, hosting a house-party fundraiser, by volunteering in our development and fundraising department, or helping to connect us with other potential donors in their social and business networks. There are also some opportunities to partner with specific classrooms and teachers to tutor or support enrichment programming for students.

Individual, business and foundation donors help us

  1. Fund our evening Salish language classes for parents and community members;

  2. Fund our Salish immersion preschool and elementary school programs;

  3. Fund our Salish curriculum development, and;

  4. Fund enrichment opportunities for Native American youth such as horseback riding, harvesting traditional foods, piano, clarinet and other music lessons, soccer, cross-country running, rock climbing, and ice-skating.