Todd County School District

Todd County covers an area of approximately 1400 square miles (27 by 52 miles) in south central South Dakota, an area that is designated as rural by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The land of this area is primarily prairie and was once the winter range of the American Bison – the buffalo.  Today, ranching and farming are the economic mainstays on both privately owned and Indian lands.  The landscape is arrayed with sand hills, canyons, and 20,000 acres of forest, and rich with wildlife: antelope, prairie dogs, deer, wild turkeys, coyote, grouse, and pheasants.  Bald eagles and golden eagles are frequently sighted, as are elk and even the rare, black-footed ferret.  The county includes a number of small residential communities – Mission and Rosebud are the largest – with a total population of about 10,000 people, and it has the same boundaries as the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.