School Demographic Page

School Demographic Summary

Leupp, Arizona is a rural community located on the southwestern portion of the Navajo Nation in the Western Navajo Agency. It is approximately 30 miles northwest of Winslow, Arizona and about 50 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona. Leupp has a population of approximately 2,500. The community consists of a Navajo Nation Headstart, a K-8 public school, a K-12 grant school, 7 churches, a convenience store, a chapter house, and a community center with a U.S. Post Office and offices for social services including the Navajo Nation Southwest Child Protective Service. Youth services, employment and training programs, a food distribution center, a police substation, a fire station, and a senior citizen center are also located in the community. As for housing, a number of HUD/NHA housing units as well as a trailer court are located in Leupp. The Leupp Field Health Services campus, located adjacent to Leupp Schools, Inc., consists of a general medical clinic, a dental clinic and a mental health clinic served by the Winslow Indian Health Care Center. Nearby are the NTUA Electric Generating Station and the El Paso Natural Gas Station. The majority of the community members are older adults, although there are middle aged and some young parents living and working within the community. Many of the people seek employment outside the community, such as Flagstaff and Winslow due to the limited resources within the local community. They commute to the job sites on a daily basis. Some of the young families have to move to the metropolitan areas for better job opportunities to fit their career interests. Many elders of the communities still maintain their livestock, farming, arts and crafts, and cultural teachings.

Leupp Boarding School was established in 1960 as a K-8 Bureau of Indian Affairs school and filled to capacity by serving a large number of students from various areas of the Navajo reservation. As schools were being built in other parts of the Navajo reservation, enrollment declined leaving empty buildings. The local community negotiated with Tooh Dine Industries, Inc., a high-tech electronic entrepreneur, to lease one of the dormitories as an employment site. This site now provides employment for surrounding community members. In 1986, Leupp Boarding School became a K-12 contract school under the 638 Indian Self-Determination Acts. In 1988, the school became a grant school and officially became known as Leupp Schools, Inc.

Leupp Schools, Inc. as a grant bureau-funded school coordinates activities and regulations as set forth by the Office of Indian Education Program. Implemented into the school’s rules and regulations are requirements set forth by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), the Elementary and Secondary Education Action (ESEA) and the Program Implement and Accountability Plan (PIAP). Leupp Schools, Inc. also holds proper student counts, holds standardized testing and abides by special education criteria to further meet federal program requirements.

In the Fall of 2008 Leupp Schools’, Inc. opened its new academic and gymnasium/cafeteria buildings for K-12. In the Spring of 2009, the school opened the first floor of the new residential hall. In the Fall of 2009 the second floor of the dorm will be open to accommodate 98 students, total. The facility also has a Hogan and a dome-structured library.

The school serves the communities of the identified three chapters; Birdsprings, Leupp and Tolani Lake as well as surrounding communities such as Dilcon and Navajo families living in Flagstaff and Winslow who prefer to have their children stay in the dormitory rather than attend border town schools. Buses travel northwest to Grand Falls; southwest of Leupp toward Canyon Diablo; southeast of Birdsprings; northeast of Tolani Lake; southeast of Winslow, and other local routes.

LSI currently employees 70 staff members consisting of professional, paraprofessional and support staff. Staff consists of a principal, an assistant principal, teachers, paraprofessionals, substitute teachers, social worker, nurse, administrative personnel, business manager and staff, homeliving, food services, head teacher, reading coach, math coach, parent liaison, facilities, FACE parent educators, safety officers, transportation, human resource tech, IT manager, and a librarian. Many of the staff members commute from surrounding communities while others live within the community.

The 2010-2011, K-12, enrollment is currently 249 consisting of 115 elementary students (K-6), 57 junior high (7-8), and 77 high school student (9-12). The FACE program serves 32 home-based families and seven center-based families. Ninety-nine percent of the
school’s population consists of Native American students with a majority from the Navajo tribe. A majority of the students are receiving free and/or reduced lunch. Currently there are 67 students enrolled in the homeliving program; 35 female and 32 male students. Fortytwo students are served by the Special Education Program; 20 high school and 22 students in grades K-8; eight students are currently served by the TAG program however more are being identified daily.