Tuba City Boarding School: Past and Present

Tuba City Boarding School was established in 1898 under the authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for the education of Native American children in Northern Arizona. The first school was located in Blue Canyon, 25 miles southeast of Tuba City and was known as the Blue Canyon School. Later, the school was moved to Moenave, AZ just four miles west of Tuba City. Finally in 1901, the school relocated to its present location in Tuba City, AZ. From its beginning up until the 1940s, the school was operated by the Department of the Army. Then in the 1950s the school came under the direction of the Department of the Interior.  Today, the school is operated and funded by the United States Bureau of Indian Education.

Originally, Tuba City Boarding School was a self-sustaining and self-supporting school designed to teach children practical skills such as baking, agriculture, livestock care, gardening, cooking, and laundry care. Up until 1980, all TCBS students resided in the school's dormitories.

Today, Tuba City Boarding School is one of the highest achieving schools on the Navajo reservation. Considerable educational gains year after year have catapulted the school to an official AYP status for the past three academic years beginning from the school year of 2005/2006. There are 55 General Education classrooms, 8 Special Education classrooms, 2 Gifted and Talented classrooms, 5 Native American Education classrooms, and 4 large Computer Labs serving approximately 1200 Pre-Kindergarten through Eighth grade students.

Currently, the Tuba City Boarding School campus is in the process of constructing a brand new campus with three of the five new buildings now occupied. The new buildings occupied house grades developmental kindergarten through six, the library, and the school administration. The Remaining two building are scheduled to open within the coming months, with grades seven and eight in November and the new Gymnasium in early spring of 2009. So, come on by and witness the growth of the new Tuba City Boarding School!