Our Affiliated Site: Dennehotso Boarding School in Dennehotso, Arizona

 

facts about Dennehotso Boarding School:

  • Grades Served: Kindergarten – eighth grade
  • Facility Description: In addition to two dormitories for the boarding students, the school facilities comprise a woodworking shop, library, reading laboratory, cafeteria, and a kitchen.
  • Boarding: The students live in two dormitories (separated by gender) during the week, but travel home (often up to one hour away) on the weekends and for vacation.
  • Education: Curriculum offered complies with Arizona public school standards. Core academic subjects are taught, along with Navajo history and culture. Vocational training includes woodworking for boys and sewing for girls. There is also a special education program, housed in a separate building.
  • Nutrition: A nutritious breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served each day. One hundred precent of enrolled students qualify for the Federal Free/Reduced-Price Meal program.

The remote town of Dennehotso is situated on the Navajo Indian Reservation, amid the incredible desert beauty of northern Arizona. The Reservation comprises more than 27,000 square miles of spectacular but inhospitable countryside, extending into both Utah and New Mexico. Despite its massive scale and rich cultural history, residents of the Reservation are desperately poor.

There is virtually no employment. Broken homes, alcoholism, and inadequate food are constant manifestations of poverty. For this reason, Dennehotso Boarding School serves as a beacon of hope to its surrounding community, providing children here with a quality education – the key to breaking the cycle of poverty so that students may rise above the difficult economic circumstances from which they come.