Our Affiliated Site: Pinon Community School in Pinon, Arizona

facts about Pinon Community School:

  • Grades Served: First – twelfth grades
  • Average Enrollment: 420 students
  • Facility Description: The Pinon campus comprises classrooms and other facilities such as a gym and cafeteria. Grades K-8 are housed a half-mile from the building that houses grades 9-12.
  • Education: Core academic subjects are taught with the same standards as Arizona public schools, as well as Navajo language, history, and culture.
  • Academic Schedule: With the exceptions of periodic vacations, the Pinon School is a year-round school. Graduations normally take place in July.
  • Medical Care: Medical care is provided as needed, free of charge.
  • Extracurricular Activities: Extracurricular activities include scouting, basketball, track, football, softball, and other games.
  • Diné Tradition: A major focus of the curriculum and daily regimen of this school is a traditional Navajo approach called “Diné Education” – guiding children toward proper emotional, social, physical and spiritual development. Dormitory life is dedicated to teaching and advocating Diné culture “for the holistic being” of the child.
  • Nutrition: Three nutritious meals are served each day. One hundred percent of enrolled students qualify for the Federal Free/Reduced-Price Meal program.

The remote community of Pinon is situated amid the incredible desert beauty of northern Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation, less than forty miles from the Grand Canyon. 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 heritage, 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, Pinon Community School serves as a beacon of hope, providing children here with a nurturing environment and 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.