Native American students at Douglas Middle School will soon have an opportunity to take advantage of tutoring services designed specifically for them.

The school district applied for and received a Title VII grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund a reading tutor for Native American students at the school. The grant is worth $20,607.

"I'm thrilled," middle school interim principal Harry Brenden said.

The middle school has not consistently met Annual Yearly Progress as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, said Loren Scheer, Douglas School District superintendent.

"The (grant) is not enough money to do this school-wide, so we targeted the middle school," he said. "It was our intent when we wrote (the grant) to get help in that area."

Scheer said he and other school officials hope to find a Native American candidate to fill the position. Brenden agreed and said they are looking for Native American applicants, but he didn't know how many would apply.

"We need more Native American role models for our Native American students," he said. "That would definitely be an advantage."

The tutor would start as soon as he or she was hired, Scheer said, which will be some time this year.

It is the first time the school district has received the Indian Education Grant from the state. They had received about five applications by Tuesday morning.

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com