Indian Education Program

Program Overview

There are approximately 908 Native American students attending the nine public schools of the Klamath-Trinity School District. Our largest elementary school, Hoopa Elementary, is located on the Hoopa Indian Reservation - the largest reservation in California. Hoopa Elementary has a population of approximately 447 students of which 90-95 percent are Native American.
Students in our district are enrolled members of many different Tribes throughout the United States, although the majority of students are Karuk, Hupa, Tsnungwe and Yurok tribal members. The School District encompasses the rural areas of the Hoopa Reservation, the Yurok reservation, and parts of the Karuk and Tsnungwe ancestral territory.
Our Indian Education Program is funded in part through the Federal Title VII Indian Education Act to "meet the special educational and culturally-related academic needs of Indian children." The program is also funded through American Indian Early Childhood Education (AIECE), and PL 874 Impact Aid monies. This year, we have received an additional grant through the Indian Land Tenure Foundation to create, and implement lessons based on the history and culture of the Hoopa, Yurok, and Karuk Tribes.

Our specific objectives are the following:

To provide early reading intervention for primary Native American students to help students become proficient and independent readers.
To provide an annual art and writing contest on a local American Indian theme to encourage student research, writing and editing skills as well as to showcase our artistic students.
To create and promote culturally relevant and appropriate reading books, curriculum units, videos, and other materials to make learning meaningful for Indian students.
To provide Native Language teachers with training and information in best practices for language instruction.
To provide Native American curricular materials, reading books, video and audio tapes and other items related to local, state or National Indian issues to school staff, Tribal Education staff and to the general community through the Indian Education Resource Center.