Opening New Doors Tacoma School Hailed As A Model For American Indian Education

Chief Leschi School became the rock star of American Indian education last fall when its $32 million campus opened on farmland northwest of Puyallup.

The largest federally built American Indian school in the United States pulled in hundreds of new students from all over the South Sound.

The nine months since have pleased and astounded Superintendent Linda Rudolph, who runs Chief Leschi for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. The enrollment blitz caused logistical problems, but Rudolph says the school coped.

“We’re opening doors that have been historically closed,” said Rudolph. “From the minute (students) get on the bus to the minute they leave, everything (at Chief Leschi) is built on expectations of success.”

Rudolph hopes to create an academic legacy at Chief Leschi, one that will be a source of pride 20 years from now. Here are her goals:

To issue at least 100 high school diplomas to American Indians annually. That should happen within five years.

To get more students to attend school regularly.

To boost student achievement above national norms.

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians opened Chief Leschi in 1979. For the last few years, its programs were split between two Tacoma campuses, neither adequate.

Now, the tribe wants Chief Leschi to become a national showcase for American Indian education. Already, at least two other tribes, the Lummis and the Tulalips, have looked at Chief Leschi as a possible prototype.

To achieve showcase status, Chief Leschi faces a big test.

As a group, American Indian students are among the least successful of public school students nationally. They score poorly on standardized achievement tests. Many drop out.

Rudolph and others at Chief Leschi see the new building as a fresh start for the school and its students. Administrators left past academic records, including achievement test results, boxed up in a barn.

Before the move, “the school was whole in spirit, but it wasn’t whole in structure,” said teacher Harvey Whitford. “Now we have a wonderful building, and the students are gifts granted to us.”

The school already has impressed state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson.

“That school really is a model,” said Jim Coolican, Bergeson’s deputy, speaking on her behalf. “They respect the culture of the children.

“The purpose of schools is to develop the full potential of each child, and Chief Leschi, I think, really does that. We have high hopes of what’s going to happen there.”

Chief Leschi’s student body is triangular in shape. Almost four times as many kindergarteners go to Chief Leschi as high school seniors. The school also has a large pre-school program.

Chief Leschi aims to keep the students it starts with, instead of losing them as they grow older.

“Attendance is a killer,” said Hal Amundson, who teaches high school history. “We’re dealing with family and work issues. A lot of them have to work 20 or 30 hours a week. … “Sometimes I’m amazed that they do come in and do (school) work because I know what’s going on.”

Non-Indians are the minority here. Chief Leschi’s enrollment is 93 percent American Indian or native Alaskan. Fifty-four tribes are represented. About 550 Chief Leschi students live in Tacoma, but others come from as far away as Des Moines and Yelm. Chief Leschi’s buses - the school provides door-todoor service - cover 7,000 miles daily.

The current enrollment of 1,160 students is far more than anyone expected. Chief Leschi now plans for 1,200 students next fall.