The Kenaitze Indian Tribe will be able to open its Tułen Charter School, for kindergarten through third grade students, during the next school year after unanimous approval on March 10 by the State Board of Education.
Bernadine Atchison, chair of the Kenaitze Tribal Council, told members of the board that the creation of a tribal school has been a driving goal and a top priority of the tribe “for over 30 years.”
“Today, we have an education department, the Dena’ina Language Institute, an education committee, an academic policy committee and partnerships throughout our community to help fulfill our long-term goal of opening a tribal school that uses Dena’ina language and culture as the education model,” she said.
The school will be housed in the tribe’s Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus, where they already operate early-learning and after-school programs.
Tułen means “the current is flowing” or “the river will flow” in Dena’ina.
Kyle McFall, education director for the tribe, said the “vision is to be a beacon for educational excellence and cultural pride for the Kenai Peninsula.” Dena’ina culture, he said, will be “interwoven” throughout the school and its programming.
McFall said the school will have small classes, starting as a K-3 school before adding a grade each year, until finally adding the sixth grade in the 2028-2029 school year.
The school will use standards-based assessments and report cards. Proposed curriculum include Raven Writes, i-Ready Reading, i-Ready Math, STEAM and others. The school calendar would largely be similar to the general district calendar, excepting “Subsistence Week” — the week of Labor Day when the school would be closed to students and staff. The program will also integrate physical education, art and music taught by Kenaitze Indian Tribe staff — like a full-time Native Youth Olympics coach.
The state board approved the application for an initial five-year period with little discussion.
That approval is the final step before the school can be opened later this year. The move follows a similar unanimous approval of the Tułen charter application by the local school district last fall, when it was brought to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education. That body granted approval under a contingency that a memorandum of understanding between the tribe and district be finalized for certain staffing and programs before the school opens.
A release published to the tribe’s website on March 11 says that the school’s initial staff, besides tribal employees performing services via MOUs, will include a principal teacher, a full-time certified teacher, a full-time teacher with special education qualifications, a three-quarter-time certified teacher and a half-time administrative assistant.
The details of the MOUs described in the release and in the district’s approval contingency “are being worked out.”
The release says also that the tribal council “recently approved” qunshi, or the beluga whale, as the school’s mascot. An interest survey for those looking to enroll a child in the school is available at kenaitze.org.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
