Our Affiliated Site: Kayenta Community School in Kayenta, Arizona

 

facts about Kayenta Community School:

  • Grades Served: Kindergarten – eighth grade
  • Facility Description: A modern, well-equipped school comprises dormitories for boarding students. A new building was constructed in 2010 and became functional for the 2010/2011 school year.
  • Education: The curriculum adheres to Arizona public schools’ standards. Core academic subjects are taught, along with Navajo history, culture, and language.
  • Transportation: Many students who attend the school live long distances from the facility. School buses must navigate roads that are little more than trails to reach the log and mud “hogans” (traditional homes) in which these children and their impoverished families live.
  • Extracurricular Activities: Activities include scouting, 4-H Club, sports, and recreational games.
  • Nutrition: A nutritious breakfast and lunch are served each day. One hundred percent of enrolled students qualify for the Federal Free/Reduced-Price Meal program.

Amid the incredible desert beauty of northern Arizona, the remote community of Kayenta lies situated on the Navajo Indian Reservation, along the southern edge of the spectacularly beautiful Monument Valley. The Navajo Reservation comprises more than 27,000 square miles of spectacular yet inhospitable countryside, extending into both Utah and New Mexico. Despite its massive scale and rich cultural history, the Reservation and its residents are desperately poor. There is virtually no employment. Broken homes, alcoholism, and inadequate food are constant manifestations of poverty.

For this reason, the Kayenta Community School, funded and operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, serves as a beacon of hope. Its faculty is dedicated to 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.