The facility opened on February 20, 1884 and, like other such schools, its mission was to educate and teach Christianity to Native American children. The village of Genoa was selected because the Federal Government already owned the former Pawnee Reservation property there; however, existing buildings at the site were unsuitable and in poor repair. Like many buildings designed for Indian school campuses, this was a simple three-story structure with a hipped roof and a small triangular pediment above the center entrance. The pairs of tall windows and the strong horizontal lines across the front created a balanced composition. This was a popular design during the late 1880s

The school closed in 1934.