A new charter school run by the Kenaitze Indian Tribe will officially open its doors in Kenai later this year. That’s after the State Board of Education gave the tribe's application a unanimous, final stamp of approval earlier this month.
When it opens, the tribe’s Tułen Charter School will become the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s 43rd school. The tribe expects to enroll up to 65 students in kindergarten through third grade. The school will be hosted at the tribe’s Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht campus in Kenai.
“Our vision is to be a beacon for educational excellence and cultural pride for the Kenai Peninsula,” said Kenaitze Indian Tribe Education Director Kyle McFall. “We envision a school where the richness of the Dena’ina cultural heritage is interwoven to every aspect of learning, fostering a deep sense of belonging, pride and self-confidence.”
McFall was tasked with fielding questions from state school board members about the tribe’s school proposal at the board’s March meetings.
He says the school will incorporate existing tribal programs, including the Dena’ina Language Institute and the Yaghanen Language and Cultural Program. The tribe also has plans for a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics Academy. And the school will have a Native Youth Olympics coach to lead physical education.
Tribal Council Chair Bernadine Atchison told the board the school’s been a long time coming.
“The tribal school has been a long-standing goal for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe for over 30 years and continues to be one of our top priorities identified by tribal members,” she said.
Kenai Peninsula school board members approved the tribe’s school application in November.
State School Board Chair James Fields was the only board member to comment on the application.
“It sounds like you’ve got a good broad base of educational experience in that district, which helps so you kind of know the ins and outs, and you can kind of do that with the Dena’ina group and the Kenaitze tribe,” he said.
At the same meeting, the board also unanimously approved a renewal application for the K-8 Aurora Borealis Charter School in Kenai.
