The school serves as a community center for Savoonga residents. ECI/Hyer Architecture and Interiors built the current school facility, which has asymmetrical trusses and covered entry and exit porches that use Alaska Native-style poles. The building won the merit award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Alaska chapter.[2]
By 2013 the school received a $1 million grant from the federal government's School Improvement Grant (SIG).[3]
Curriculum
As of 2013, the curriculum heavily emphasized mathematics and reading due to influences from the SIG grant, with daily instructional blocks devoted to each subject. During that period, the school used the Success for All teaching program and other instructional strategies intended to improve standardized test performance. At that time, a class on Yupik culture and Yupik language had been offered previously but was discontinued in part due to low student enrollment.[3]
In subsequent years, the school implemented a bilingual-bicultural (B/B) teacher position among its staff.[4] The implementation includes Siberian Yupik language instruction taught by local language speakers. Siberian Yupik is required for students in grades K–8 and is offered as an elective course for high school students receiving elective credit. Bilingual-bicultural education programs are required under Alaska state law for qualifying schools serving students whose primary language is other than English.[5]
Academic performance
Public reporting on the school’s academic performance is provided through the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), which publishes annual school report cards including information on student achievement, attendance, and graduation rates.[6]
Earlier reporting indicated that during the 2000s and early 2010s the school experienced challenges related to student proficiency, attendance, and graduation rates, reflecting broader educational and economic conditions in the region.[3]
Teaching staff
As of 2013[update] the administrative staff and the head teachers were White Americans; a lack of local Alaska natives with university educations meant that the school district recruited staff from the Lower 48. Each class had a teacher's aide who was Yupik.[3]
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