{"id":13708,"date":"2026-02-02T01:11:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/kwiyagat-community-academy-secures-four-year-renewal-plans-a-sixth-grade-expansion\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:40:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:40:04","slug":"kwiyagat-community-academy-secures-four-year-renewal-plans-a-sixth-grade-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/kwiyagat-community-academy-secures-four-year-renewal-plans-a-sixth-grade-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Kwiyagat Community Academy secures four-year renewal, plans a sixth-grade expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Andre\u2019
Andre\u2019 Posey and Morning Lang sprint and climb across the Kwiyagat Community Academy playground during a Monday morning recess in Towaoc. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

TOWAOC \u2013 Past the Community Center, nestled between tribal administrative buildings and directly below the Sleeping Ute Mountain cliffs, children\u2019s laughter echoed across the grounds.<\/p>\n

The school playground belongs to Kwiyagat Community Academy, and on bright-green turf Monday, kindergartners played at recess.<\/p>\n

Kwiyagat Community Academy, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe\u2019s charter school, has been granted another four years through the Colorado Charter School Institute.<\/p>\n

The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade, opening in 2021 as the first public charter school on a Native American reservation in the state. Now, entering its fifth year, school officials report steady growth, adding one grade level at a time. Both the charter renewal and increasing enrollment mark significant milestones, said school Principal Dan Porter.<\/p>\n

In addition, discussions are underway for expansion \u2013 plans that will require additional classrooms, likely another building.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to expand to a sixth grade. There\u2019s no timeline yet,\u201d Porter said. \u201cIf we do that, we\u2019re going to have to bring in another modular. We need another building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kwiyagat exists to provide a high-quality public school education while grounding students in daily exposure to Ute culture. The Ute language and history are taught regularly across all grades, not confined to a single class. Cultural content is woven into reading, social studies and classroom discussions.<\/p>\n

As Principal Porter has said, the school aims to help students build \u201carmor.\u201d Porter said the school\u2019s approach is designed to counter generations of cultural loss, particularly due to history of boarding schools where Native children were punished for speaking their languages.<\/p>\n

\"Teacher
Teacher Lori Farris leads her class while Principal Dan Porter and intervention assistant Julien Wolf look on. Students Andrew Wall, Jupiter Root, Jayden Laner, Neekah Arrates, Kobrah Root, Jaylyn Begay and Mia\u2019Kota Holman practice fractions with Hershey\u2019s chocolate. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As Principal Porter said, the school aims to help students build \u2018armor.\u2019 Its approach is meant to help repair generations of cultural loss rooted in boarding\u2011school policies that punished Native children for speaking their languages.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur purpose is to have these kids proud of who they are,\u201d Porter said. \u201cWe\u2019re adding this strength of their character, this strength of their culture for who they are, so they can stand up, ask questions and advocate for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

This support is needed to address real-world challenges affecting many rural and tribal communities. For instance, Porter said attendance is the school\u2019s greatest ongoing challenge, affecting both students and staff, and he said it surprised him despite the school\u2019s location on the reservation.<\/p>\n

\"Third\u2011graders
Third\u2011graders Snowdeer Root, Ava\u2019Lyna Height, Camryn Thompson and Jesse Rose\u2011Littell join a class meditation led by instructor Emma Duke at Kwiyagat Community Academy. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Continued growth at Kwiyagat<\/div>\n

Porter said the four-year renewal demonstrates stability and supports the school\u2019s mission to provide a constant presence in Towaoc.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur growing enrollment is a big deal. You know, having something that sticks around is super important. We didn\u2019t need another program that comes down to help everybody and then disappears,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Growth has defined Kwiyagat since its opening. At first, the student population was a little over 20 students, housed in two classes inside a singlewide mobile home. Now, the grounds include several buildings, playground features, a greenhouse to grow Ute foods and traditional cultural elements, such as a site showing where harvested game was once processed according to Ute tradition. Enrollment is now more than 80 students.<\/p>\n

\"Andre\u2019
Andre\u2019 Posey and Morning Lang play at recess. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The greenhouse at Kwiyagat Community Academy supports hands-on learning as students grow traditional Ute foods. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Curriculum designed around culture and history<\/div>\n

The curriculum is cross-cultural, and teachers use a program to create parallel lessons that apply Ute perspectives to American history.<\/p>\n

For example, if a curriculum discusses westward expansion, students learn about it in relation to Ute governance or the changes that mattered locally, such as the introduction of horses.<\/p>\n

The school continues to develop custom textbooks with help from locals and elders. Elders attend classes to share stories, history and traditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely keeping tradition alive,\u201d Porter said. \u201cSo many of these kids for one reason or another haven\u2019t been shown their own culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community members and leaders are proud of the school. Former tribal chairman Manuel Heart was commended recently by U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, who represents the Western Slope, for his work in education.<\/p>\n

Porter credited an academy founder, Tina King-Washington, who serves on the board, with spearheading the project and said tribal Chairman Selwyn Whiteskunk also led initial design efforts. The school used startup funding and grants through state education programs, as well as support from regional and statewide foundations.<\/p>\n

Kwiyagat\u2019s success was also highlighted by Ute Mountain Ute Councilwoman Marilynn House, who spoke about the academy during the Utes\u2019 State of the Tribes address to state lawmakers Jan. 16. She addressed historical context, pointing to the long-lasting impacts and brutality of federal boarding-school policies on Ute and other Native communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take pride in our school and what is taught, and as you all may or may not know, Ute children and other children of different tribes who attended boarding schools were beaten just for talking their language,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

House added: \u201cIt is a blessing to have our children learn these teachings that will carry with them for the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Schoolbooks
Schoolbooks are locally developed at Kwiyagat Community Academy. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Schoolbooks
Schoolbooks integrate Ute perspectives, such as during lessons about government. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
School addresses absenteeism<\/div>\n

Kwiyagat\u2019s operations do not come without challenges, similar to many area school systems Porter has worked in, he said. Attendance is an issue not just for students, but sometimes for staff as well.<\/p>\n

Factors such as illness, getting to the bus on time and other transportation barriers contribute to frequent absenteeism. Porter said widespread community trauma is another contributor, including times when a death occurs within a small, close-knit community. If a community member passes away, multiple families and staff members are affected and grieve at once.<\/p>\n

To address this, the school has increased daily contact with families, added transportation services and created attendance incentives, including a reward system. Any legal intervention, Porter said, is used only as a final resort as the school seeks to work closely with parents.<\/p>\n

Porter came out of retirement to lead the school after a long career in public education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m proud of is its been a vision for a long, long time \u2013 having a school down here \u2013 and different people have tried different things, but we\u2019ve never had a public school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Teacher
Teacher Lori Farris works with students Andrew Wall, Jupiter Root, Niomi Cowboy and Jayden Laner. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountain Ute-run charter, renewed through 2029, has added a grade each year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13708"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19119,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708\/revisions\/19119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13708"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}