New Students

Welcome to the Academic web site of Rough Rock Community School. It is the mission of the Rough Rock Community School to incorporate Navajo Language and Culture into the daily curriculum and school atmosphere. Many of the things you will see as you look through our website will be unique to Rough Rock Community School.

We are a K-12 school located in the heart of the Navajo Nation, approximately 30 miles Northwest of Canyon de Chelly, (Chinle). Please visit our picture gallery to view the unique rock formations surrounding our school. We are a residential school with approximately 250 students living in dormitories on campus. Our district boundaries cover the entire Navajo Nation. Students come from the four states that make up the Four Corners area.

We currently have three school sites. The elementary school has grades Kindergarten through the fifth grade. We have a FACE, Family and Child Education Program, as well as a Navajo Immersion program where only the Navajo Language is spoken. We emphasis reading using the Open Court Reading series with 90 minute reading periods and additional time for Reading Mastery for those who need extra help. The elementary math program uses the Saxon Math series.

Our Middle School, grades six through eight are located one mile from the elementary school and boasts of rotational classes for all students. Again we use textbooks taken from the Arizona Department of Education approved textbook list. Students have unique opportunities to explore the surrounding area through field trips, including trips to the four sacred mountains. We sponsor a Native American Club which competes in the ceremonial pow wow’s common across the reservation and the southwest.

We have an after school horsemanship program where we keep 20 plus horses for student use and training. Students can learn how to ride horses, shoe the horses, and compete in horsemanship competitions. They learn how to hitch up a wagon to a team of horses and drive the wagon. We sponsor three trail rides per year where students ride horses and drive the wagon team into the mountains and camp for three days. Visit our gallery for pictures of the last years trail ride.

Our high school has grades nine through twelve. We teach all core classes required by the State of Arizona, plus Art, Ceramics, Computer technology, Auto Shop, Welding, Construction trades, and PE. We have the full range of sports teams and compete at the 2A level in the Arizona Inter-Scholastic Association competitions. Rough Rock students have taken many medals in State and Tribal sponsored events including Native American Science competitions. Our drama team was invited to participate in the Edinburgh theatrical Festival, in Edinburgh, Scotland and won top honors. Our Rodeo club has had many top Rodeo finalist in the high school rodeo association.

Our technology department is second to none. We boast of gig a bit network backbone with a computer to student ratio of one to two. We have full video conferencing capabilities with ten video broadcast-receive mobile sites. All of our buildings and classrooms are connected to the internet. In the fall of 2008 we will be interconnected to several colleges and universities for concurrent enrollment.

Again, Welcome to Rough Rock Community School Web Site. Enjoy your visit.

Donald Hancock
Director of Curriculum, Federal Programs, and Technology
Rough Rock Community School