Our Affiliated Site: Lake View/Desert View Elementary in Page, Arizona
The town of Page is located amid the stark mesas, wild terrain, and incredible desert beauty of north-central Arizona, only a few miles from the Utah border. One of the youngest communities in the United States, it actually began in 1957 as a housing camp for workers building the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. Today, the majority of its residents are Navajo, since the town lies just off the western fringes of the Navajo Reservation, which comprises more than 27,000 square miles, extending into both Utah and New Mexico.
Despite an ancient history and revered culture, Page’s economy is weak, and high unemployment and social problems fuel a cycle of poverty that has existed here for many years. For this reason, Lake View/Desert View Elementary School (which comprises two campuses, split by grade level) serves as a beacon of hope to its surrounding community. Its faculty strives to provide each child with quality education – the key to breaking the cycle of poverty so that students may rise above the difficult economic circumstances from which they come.