Indian Diggings School District was one of the first districts in El Dorado County and The building pictured below was built in 1856.  The District is also one of the oldest in the State of California, having been organized in 1867.  The district has only one school, Indian Diggings Elementary School, that serves kindergarten through eighth grade and has been running continuously since it was built.  The original schoolhouse was in the canyon at Cedar Creek off Indian Diggins Road nearly two miles away.  There was no transportation for students; everyone walked.  The school was closed for a three-month vacation every winter because of heavy snow, and so, was considered a "summer school".

The original school was attended until 1949 when a new school (pictured below) was built "up the hill" near the Wetsel-Oviatt lumber mill.  That school burned down in 1959 and the present school was built on the same site. 

Enrollment declined drastically at the new school (pictured below) with the closing of the mill and the rising cost of gas making it hard for families to live and commute to jobs in Placerville, Amador County or even Sacramento County.

Present Day Indian Diggings School

Beginning in 1990, Rusty Vardy, past Superintendent/Principal/Teacher, organized several projects to modernize the school grounds and facilities and by the fall of 2001, the multi-purpose room was added giving the school a gym area, kitchen and new bathroom facilities and storage. What was once a small and outdated-building, Indian Diggings now presents itself with updated classrooms, half-court gymnasium, theater-style stage, kitchen, one to one Laptop and iPad program, projectors and interactive whiteboards in each room, library, modernized playground equipment, and more.  As of the 2016 school year energy efficiency programs promise to bring new updated equipment that will cut our cost of electricity and propane allowing for increased spending in the classroom and a reduced footprint on the environment.

Let it Snow!

At Indian Diggings, it does snow from time to time in the winter. We embrace the snow and use it as a teaching opportunity.
Our kids learn about water density properties in snow and how to build environmental shelters as well as learning how to cross country ski!
This picture of Indian Diggings Elementary School was taken in the Winter of 2001.

Education at Indian Diggings goes beyond the classroom and facilities. Students learn to appreciate the history of the area and their ecologically abundant surroundings with extensive outdoor education. From day hikes, to backpacking trips, field projects and winter activities such as cross-country skiing expeditions, students at Indian Diggings School receive an education based on the "into-through-and beyond" philosophy. By literally "digging" deeper into the history and their surroundings, they grow-up understanding more about the world and their place in it.