The world has changed dramatically since the Baca Day School opened 70 years ago in Prewitt, N.M. The Navajo children who attended the school in those days have seen our country move from the New Deal to the information age.
Unfortunately, the school did not keep pace. It gradually fell into obsolescence and disrepair as the years passed. Children attended class under leaky roofs and over sewer backups. The heating and air-circulation systems sometimes didn't work. The school itself was never renovated to bring it up to contemporary standards.
All that changed this week. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those first students at Baca Day School began attending a new state-of-the-art school— a joint project of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The new Baca Community School is located adjacent to the historic Baca Day School site. The firm of local architect Dyron Murphy, a member of the Navajo Nation, designed the new structure. The school reflects and respects Navajo traditions and culture and is a landmark achievement in environmentally conscious construction.
For example, the aesthetic design of this school incorporates several elements sacred to Navajo culture. The main entrance of the school faces east to greet the morning sun, symbolizing the beginning of life. Four wings of the school surround a central core, representing four directions of the compass, color coded to denote the sacred colors of each direction.
The facility also incorporates the very latest in computer technology and environmentally sustainable design features, including an optimized heating and air conditioning system and the use of recycled steel. As a result, the BIA has applied to have the building certified by the United States Green Building Council for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Award. If certified, it would be the first building in New Mexico to gain this distinction.
The new Baca Community School is symbolic of a new direction in the education of American Indian children. The Interior Department, through the BIA, manages one of the nation's two federal school systems, serving nearly 48,000 students at 185 schools in 23 states.
Among my top priorities is the implementation of President Bush's strategy to improve the quality of BIA-funded schools and to honor the president's vision to "leave no child behind" in education. Today, the BIA is working with a panel of Indian educators and national leaders to implement the recently passed No Child Left Behind Act at all BIA-funded schools. We want to facilitate high achievement for all Indian children enrolled in these schools.
We are also planting the seeds of learning through an early childhood and family literacy program known as Family and Child Education— the FACE program. The goal of FACE is to create a whole new generation of young readers and eager learners by working with parents to develop the reading skills that will help secure future success in the classroom.
We are even working with Dolly Parton and her Dollywood Foundation's Imagination Library to provide FACE children with books for their home library.
The $12.3-million Baca Community School is part of a major effort to erase a troubling construction and maintenance backlog. This administration has budgeted $292.6 million each year since 2001 to sustain this aggressive construction and modernization effort.
The Interior Department shares the pride of the community as we join together to dedicate this new school. A quality environment is a big factor in helping children learn, but a quality education also requires the commitment of administrators, teachers, parents and students working together.
The opening of Baca Community School for the Prewitt and Thoreau communities is a proud milestone for students and teachers who have coped with an inadequate facility for far too long. This new elementary school serves as a reminder that no child should be left behind.