[2] Concho was among numerous boarding schools authorized by Congress in the early 20th century to educate and assimilate American Indian children into mainstream society.
[3] Students were awakened at 5 a.m., performed military drills and formations, ate breakfast, and started classes by 6:00 each morning.
The school operated a large experimental farm, both to produce crops and livestock needed, and to instruct the children in agricultural conservation[6] and planting techniques.
Students could play sports, and take classes in music and art, in addition to a full course of academic subjects.
By the time the Concho School was closed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in the early 1980s, it offered instruction for grades 1–8.
In an effort to attract them, the Quakers erected partitions to divide the classroom into separate areas for the Arapaho and Cheyenne students.
[9] Within five years, the agency schools reported that the student children were raising 211 cattle and hogs and cultivating 130 acres of land.
A fire there on 19 February 1882 destroyed the building, and the missionary's infant son and three Indian children died.
As part of the Works Progress Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an Executive Order in 1933 that authorized the Indian Service to establish a Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Concho.
It was assigned to improve the grounds and buildings, implement soil erosion controls, and develop water resources.
It featured the Concho Demonstration School, a pioneering teaching program to be operated in conjunction with Southwestern State College.
The program was designed to overcome language and cultural barriers and offer Indian students access to college materials and individual instruction.
Due to federal budget cuts and declining enrollment, the school was closed after the graduation ceremonies held 14 May 1982.
[25] In 2014 artist Steven Grounds (Navajo-Euchee) started painting larger than life murals on the exterior walls to honor chiefs and leaders of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, including 19th-century Chief Black Kettle and Suzan Shown Harjo, who was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
Earl C Intolubbe (Choctaw), an Education Guidance Specialist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, set up a model school at Concho.