results of the NMSBA in late summer and the school’s AYP will be determined in the fall. Since the passage of No Child Left Behind Act, Navajo Preparatory School has continuously achieved AYP. Finally, do not forget to mark in your calendar the day of Friday, April 16, 2010. This day is not only Parent Confer-ences, but is also Back to School Registration for next school year. A separate mail-ing containing registration papers was sent earlier. Please fill out these papers and return them on April 16, 2010. Everyone will need to register this day, so we will see you on April 16, 2010. John Tohtsoni Jr. NPS Dean of Instruction

This last week of March, our Junior students have been engaged in state assessment testing, the New Mexico Stan-dards Based Assessment. The NMSBA is the state assess-ment that determines the school’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). In addition, the additional factors of atten-dance rate and graduation rate also are used to determine a school’s AYP. The NMSBA assess our students in Mathe-matics, Reading, Science, Writing, and Social Studies. The NMSBA is comprised of the five subject areas that are further divided up into 3 test sessions per subject for a total of 14 sessions (Writing only has two test sessions). Each session takes approximately one hour to complete for a total of 14 hours of testing.

Each test of the NMSBA is broken into two types of ques-tions, multiple choice ques-tions and short answer/open ended questions. The multi-ple choice questions account for 75% of the test questions but are worth 50% of a stu-dent’s score and the short answer/open ended questions account for the remaining 25% of the test questions but are also worth 50% of the student’s score. The multiple choice questions are only worth 1 point each while the short answer/open ended questions are worth either 2 or 4 points each. The short an-swer/open ended questions are found on all subject area tests, including mathematics and science. Navajo Preparatory School should receive the students’

It is that time of the year again for revisions to the Navajo Preparatory School Student-Parent Handbook. If you have a suggestion for the handbook, includ-ing any additions, dele-tions, or clarifications, please send your recom-

mendations to Mr. John Tohtsoni Jr., the Dean of Instruction at jtoht-soni@nps.bia.edu or mail your recommendations to the school. The recom-mendations will be com-piled and a meeting on the handbook recommenda-

t i o n s will be held on Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 3:00 pm in the Student Success Center. Refresh-ments will be made avail-able. Thank you!

~Message from the Dean of Instruction~

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Parent Page 2

Academy & Class

News 3

Teacher/ Club

Updates 4-6

Residential News

& Student Mes-

sages

7

School Based

Health 8

Security Update 9

Student-Parent Handbook

N A V A J O P R E P A R A T O R Y

S C H O O L I N C .

Eagle Express Newsletter A P R I L 2 0 1 0

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

Parent Conference

and Student Regis-

tration Day

Freshman Acad-

emy Celebration

Jr. & Sr. Prom

Sr. Art Student

Highlight

Senior Class Pow-

Wow

Message from Miss

Hozho Naasha &

Mr. Atsa Hastiin

P A G E 2

Back to School Registration for School Year 2010-2011 in

the morning. Parent Conferences in the afternoon. Lunch will be served from 12:00 am to 1:00 pm in the

cafeteria.

You will have the opportunity to: Register your student for school year 2010-2011. Please

note that there WILL NOT be a registration day in August. Meet and greet your student’s spring term instructors, aca-

demic advisors, and counselors. Be informed of your student’s academic progress. Receive your student’s nine weeks grades and teacher com-

ment sheets. Receive your student’s residential report card. Spend time getting to meet other parents. Visit the Book Exchange in the Student Success Center. Receive an incentive by visiting all your student’s teachers,

Homeroom Advisor, and the residential program (one in-centive per parent).

Spring 2010 Parent Conferences II & Back to

School Registration– Friday, April 16, 2010

E A G L E E X P R E S S N E W S L E T T E R

Registration will begin at 9 am and end promptly at 12 noon and Parent Conferences will begin at 1 pm to 3:30 pm. Teachers and students will be in classes in the morning—no conferences will be scheduled in the morning.

No Bus Runs on this day!

Time Event Place

9:00 am – 12:00 pm Back to School Registra-tion

Eagles’ Nest

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch Cafeteria

1:00 pm- 3:30 pm Parent Conferences Classroom

1:00 pm- 3:30 pm Residential Conference Residential Hall for parents to meet w/ RA’s

All Day Book Exchange Student Success Center

Freshman Academy P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

The Freshmen Academy held our spring Midterm Cele-bration on March 16. Certificates of Excellence were pre-sented to students by their teachers and the residential staff. The following students received awards:

English I: Deavereaux Ned Navajo I : Shane Benally Computer I: Shanelle Yazzie Physical Science: Deaunabah Yazza. Physical Science: Leanna Bagaoisan Physical Science: Delta Higdon Algebra I: Lynshellrae Begay Health/PE: Leilani Howe and Stormy Max New Mexico/Arizona History: Leilani Howe Residential: Manuelito Hall: Rodney Begay Zah hall: Aretina Mitchell

The Junior Class is in the midst of planning for the “2010 Junior / Senior Prom”. The prom this year will be held on May 8th from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Betty Ojaye Student Center. The prom theme this year is “Once in a Blue Moon”. In addition, the Junior Class has completed testing for the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment. Way to go Juniors! As the end of Junior year comes to an end, it’s not too early for Juniors to begin thinking about Senior year! It’s a good time to start exploring ideas for their Senior Atsa Projects!! Participation in summer academic pro-grams and taking advantage of the NPS sponsored ACT camp are two ways Juniors can build skills that will help them become attractive college applicants.

In addition to these awards, there were 18 students who had a high GPA of a 3.0 or above for the 2nd quarter. Wal-Mart gift cards were presented to these students during Eagle assembly: Stormy Max, Leilani Howe, Shanelle Yazzie, Deauna-bah Yazza, Leanna Bagaoisan , Aretina Mitchell, Damon Clark, Lynshellrae Begay, Jasmine Jishie, Kaitlin Pine, Gabrielle Fultz, Courtney Nutloius, Devereaux Ned, Orrin Johnson, Destinee Yazzie, Shane Benally, Tsookie Holiday and Jamie Chee. Congratulations! Continue to talk with your child about their progress and encourage them to work hard each day. Thank you parents, teachers, and residential staff for supporting them to Strive for Excellence!

Junior Class News!!!

“Thank you

parents,

teachers, and

residential

staff for

supporting

them to

STRIVE for

EXCELLENCE!

Front row: Shane Benally, Lynshellrae Begay and Shanelle Yazzie Back row: Rodney Begay, Delta Higdon, Leilani Howe, Leanna Bagaoisan, Aretina Mitchell, Deavereaux Ned

Leilani Howe receives her certificate from Ms. Crisp

Submitted by: Char Franklin Freshmen Academy Coordinator

Submitted by: Denise Joe Junior Class Sponsor

P A G E 4

ATTENTION:

Calling all Parent

volunteers to assist

with demonstrating

cultural skills

during Hozho

Naasha Week.

Do any of these Pictures bring back memories?

BOOK EXCHANGE!!!

NCA Navajo Language & Culture Y1’1t’44h Am1, Azh4’4 d00 Ak’47i (Greeting Parents and Relatives): It’s that time of year again! The NCA Navajo Language and Culture committee members and students are organizing various cultural ac-tivities to kick-off the H0zh= Naash1 week starting April 19th. We are seeking for parent volunteers to help with demonstrating cultural skills such as silver-smithing, pottery, basket-making, sash belt mak-ing, taboos, singing or drumming. If you possess any of these skills and would like to share with students on campus on April 19th please contact Mrs. Denise Joe at 505-326-6571 ext. 317. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

change. Parents are asked to bring a book to exchange for the one they take, but stu-dents are allowed to take a book without donating one in re-turn. Don’t miss this

Parents and students are encour-aged to stop by the Student Success Cen-ter on the afternoon of the April 16th Par-ent/Teacher Confer-ences for a book ex-

opportunity add to your collection and underscore the im-portance of literacy at Navajo Prep.

Submitted by: Jeffery Young

E A G L E E X P R E S S N E W S L E T T E R

If so, are you willing to share them?

Our Navajo History Class would love to hear them.

Mr. Sorensen

If you have a story to share, simply fill out the

form titled “Boarding School Sto-

ries”, and send it with your student.

Thank You,

Senior Art Student Highlight P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

This month the Digital Visual Arts Department would like to highlight the work of Senior Alyson Roy Thompson. ‘Roy’ whose clans are: Hooghanlani and Ozi Ashiihi and hails from Burnham, NM now residing in Farmington is an advanced 3D Modeling II student this semester. He not only quickly mastered the intricacies of this soft-

ware program but found a way to go beyond what he learned in the classroom and combines it with his love of aircraft and his hopes for his future career at the Air Force Academy and created a unique Atsa Project on jet aircraft design. In this picture he is showing underclassmen his presenta-tion design for Fall Semester

on the redes-ign of the Old Cafeteria building. Great work, Roy, and good luck in all your future endeavors, you’ve made a great start here at Prep!

Submitted by: Teri Michael

Although the school year is beginning to wind down, the Navajo Prep Naat’aanii Youth Council has not shown any signs of spring fever! They have been busy planning and organizing for their final project of the year….the construction of a bread house! The youth council is collaborat-ing with Din4 College students, and are being advised by Arnold Clifford in this endeavor. The students were ex-cited to receive the first delivery of the rocks that will be used and anxiously await the rest of the materials. Con-struction of the bread house has a been goal of the group for two years and with the support of Din4 College Student Services, the dream is becoming a reality!!! In addition to our year end project, students are planning to attend the following youth leadership opportunities this summer:

Futures For Children Youth Leadership Summit in Flagstaff, Arizona National UNITY Conference in San Diego, California Students expect to learn new leadership skills, share and learn new ways of being good youth lead-

ers. Submitted by: Denise Joe

Several creative designs came out of the project. David Brown of KING SUN SOLAR also brought a working demonstra-tion of a solar water heater to our campus and invited the students to come see solar homes that they build.

Submitted by: Kevin Keely

Students in the Renewable energy class designed, built and competed against each other to build the most effective windmills. Students designed the fan

blades, number and angle of the blades. Windmills were tested on Voltage output and ability to run a small motor.

Renewable Energy Class Explores Wind Power

What are they up to now?

P A G E 6

Native Geeks Six students represented

Navajo Preparatory at the National American Indian Science & Engi-neering Fair held in Albuquerque, NM March 11-13, 2010.

The science fair included 216 projects with 258 participants. The science fair project requires the students to teach themselves from asking hypothetical questions and the process as to how to answer the questions with different vari-ables. As the students continue to produce projects year after year, they learn to become self-confident, skilled, and become competitive individuals/team. Throughout the course of their project, the team learned the necessary tools to discover, analyze, conduct and com-plete their assignment. With the questions developed by the team, they created a computer program to assist them in answering their hypothe-sis. From their project, they improved in their communication skills, teamwork, and research, which are necessary tools to prepare them to attain their career goals.

The students also participated in the Science Expo with plenty of hands-on activities and exhibits giving them an opportunity to experi-ence the fun side of science, math, engineering, and technology.

Submitted by: Mavis Yazzie-Pierce

NPS Senior

Class of 2010 is

Sponsor-ing a Pow-

Wow!!! Come and Join

the fun!

E A G L E E X P R E S S N E W S L E T T E R

Team A: Wilfred Jumbo, Ariel Nephew, & Alexis Archambault

Team B: Malcolm Keetso, Leland Gray

RESIDENTIAL NEWS P A G E 7 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

Spring Fever! Students have been doing a won-derful job with residential responsi-bilities. Keep up the good work, NPS students! As classes come near to the end, students begin to feel the stress due to testing, final grades, and for seniors, GRADUATION. Par-ents this is the time to really provide the additional support for the extra

PUSH during these stressful times. Tension can be reduce by eating healthy, and staying active by lift-ing weights, going to open gym, or walking/running. Take advantage of the resources around you. The weather is getting nicer so you will see more outdoor recreational ac-tivities in the evening program. REMINDER to Residential Students:

The final count down for school is less than two months away. You go Class of 2010! Parents and students please start taking some personal items home so not eve-rything is hauled the last week of school. Please note the school transportation only allows two carry-on items due to safety.

Submitted by: Sabrina Hood,

Dean of Student Life

materal grandfathers are the Hashtł’ishnii (Mud clan), and my paternal grandfathers are the Táchii’nii (Red running into the water people clan). My parents are Vida Frank and the late Freddie Jumbo. I am from Two Grey Hills, New Mexico and want to

Ya’atééh sha’hastóíí, shí’sáaníí, shí’tsíłkéí, shí’ch’ikéí, sha’awéé’, dóó sha’ałchíní. My name is Wilfred Jumbo the current 2009-2010 Mr. Atsa Hastiin. I am born for Naakaii Dine’é (Mexican People), born in to Ta ’neeszahni i (Tangle Clan), my

encourage your son or daughter to run in this year Miss Hozho Naasha and Mr. Asta Hastiin Pag-eant. It is a great opportunity to develop leadership, but most of all to be more involved with your culture. On the other hand, come out to watch the pageant on Sunday April 18, 2010 at 5:00 PM in the Eagles nest.

Ya’at’eeh, my name is Nicole Yazzie. In accordance with the teachings of my ancestors this is the proper and respective way to introduce myself as a young Navajo woman. I am Bit’anaii (Under His Cover Clan) and born for Ta-baahi (Water Edge People Clan). My maternal grandparents are To’dichinii (Bitter Water Clan) and my paternal grandparents are Bit’anaii (Under His Cover Clan).

I was always told that women cannot lead. However, inspiration from my grandmother helped me overcome fears which have made me a better leader. Having chores not only taught me the value of hard work but independ-ence. My grandmother taught me to be a leader and not a follower. Her wise words and guidance have helped me to become who I am today.

I have the current honor of serving as a role model by being the 2009-2010 Miss Hozho Naasha. Having the opportunity to hold a position of responsibility requires the individual to uphold the language and traditions of our ancestors. This role is an honor to have because it is the chance to represent the school respectively.

During my reign I attended numerous cultural events and met several great and wonderful leaders. Hav-ing this role helped me expand my knowledge to become a proficient young woman. My role of 2009-2010 Miss Hozho Naasha gave me an opportunity that allowed me to challenge myself. Therefore, I think it is very impor-tant for students to take the opportunity to go out and explore what leadership has to offer.

Message from Miss Hozho Naasha 2009-2010

Mr. Atsa Hastiin Welcomes All to the Hozho Naasha Naasha Pageant & Fashion Show!

McKenzie School Based Health Center SPORTS PHYSICALS for 2010-2011 School Year can be done after April 1, 2010. At SBHC, your child can get a sports physical done NOW, and you won’t have to wait in long lines this summer. Call us at ext. 115 or email rdonaldson@nps.bia.edu to schedule an appointment.

DENTAL SERVICES from Participa!, Inc. will be provided in the SBHC in the next month, for students with a signed parental con-sent. Consent forms will be distributed to students to take home the week of April 5th. Students with private dental insurance or NM Medicaid will have an exam, cleaning, fluoride, and sealants. Services will be billed to the insurance or Medicaid. Students with no insur-ance or NM Medicaid can get a free dental exam and sealants. If you are interested, please return the consent form as soon as possible.

McKenzie SBHC / Nurse’s Office will be closed Tuesday, April 13th at 2:00pm through Thursday, April 15th. Our staff will be attending the Head-to-Toe Confer-ence, a statewide conference about school & adolescent health. We look forward to seeing you at Parent Teacher Conferences on Friday, April 16th.

Registration Day is Friday, April 16. Please turn in your child’s health forms on this day. Also include a copy of insur-ance or Medicaid card and an up-to-date immunization re-cord.

PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT:

Dr. Pat Carroll MD is an Adolescent Medicine specialist who from 2002- 2009 served as the Medical Director at St. Paul's School in Concord NH - a 550 student boarding school. He has been working as a school physician at Navajo Prep since the 2009-2010 school year. In addition to his time at the health center he serves as the Navajo Prep team physi-cian. He has interest in all aspects of adolescent medicine including sports medicine.

He grew up in New England and attended Dartmouth Medical School. He works out of Northern Navajo Medical Center and the Teen Life

data base to find out more infor-mation about the student’s visitor and guardian check out informa-tion. It is a privilege to be given the opportunity to ensure your son or daughter’s safety and well being. This is a job that security does not take lightly. Once the security officer starts to become familiar with the parent and the vehicle you may just be waved in to campus. Parents and students, the security team will be getting a bike to patrol campus after the Easter Holiday!!! This progres-sive style of security enhance-ment is being made by our Resi-dential Advisor Ms. Hood. Ms. Hood has been busy researching the best methods on keeping

Hello!!!! Parents, sometimes when entering Navajo Prep’s front gate you may be greeted by a friendly security officer. There are times the security officer may ask you questions like, “Who are you, who are you visiting, and what relation is this student is to you?” These questions are not meant to annoy, these are basic questions asked to verify the students safety. The simplicity of the questions is what makes these questions so important. Parents and visitors that know the student would be able to answer these questions without hesitation. If the security officers feels that he may need more information, than they could check the computers

your student safe and after many hours of research, Ms. Hood came up with a practical and cost effec-tive method to stay current with today’s security needs. The bike will be equipped with lights and storage compartments, and of course a helmet. If you as a par-ent have any ideas or concerns please feel free to contact Ms. Hood, she is always happy to ad-dress your needs or wants. You may also approach any security officer on campus and discuss anything with them also. Well until next time, take care and thank you for allowing us to be the guardians of your stu-dent.

Submitted by: Brent Ray, Security

N P S M I S S I O N S T A T E M E N T

The mission of the school is to educate tal-ented and motivated college-bound Navajo and other Native American youth that have the potential to succeed in higher education and become leaders in their respective com-munities. The school provides a rigorous aca-demic program based on a strong foundation of Navajo philosophy supported by a residen-tial environment that enhances individuality and independence. This mission is reflected in the School’s motto, “Yideeskaagóó Naat’aani” Leaders Now and Into the Future.

Security Update

www.navajoprep.com

“Yideeskaagóó Naat’aani”

Leaders Now and Into the Future.

Navajo Preparatory School Inc. 1220 West Apache St.

Farmington, NM 87401

Phone: 505-326-6571

Fax: 505-564-8099

E-mail: rlee@nps.bia.edu