"Congratulations to the Morongo Band of Mission Indians upon opening their new elementary school this month on the reservation in Cabazon.

For many on the reservation, this school whose curriculum will be modeled after prep-school academies, is a dream come true, and a testament to Morongo self-sufficency thanks to determination and gaming dollars. The plan is to have in place a middle school and high school in about two years.

Please excuse local public school districts if they appear chastened. This for-tribal-members-only school funded by the tribe is expected to have a student-teacher ratio of 15-1. Yes, that’s one teacher for 15 students. In these days of shrinking budgets and growing class sizes, public districts can only look with envy at a low ratio like that.

The hope here is to slowly turn around a sad statistic, nationwide. Fifteen percent of American Indians possess bachelor’s degrees. The vision for the Morongo School is to prepare students for college, with such classes as foreign languages and history and, all the while, keeping Indian culture in the mix. It is a noble goal for the tribe and benefits the whole Pass."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Big step forward for Morongo (The Banning Record-Gazette 7/16)

Also Today:
Morongo opens its own elementary school (The Banning Record-Gazette 7/9)
Morongo School is one of first fully funded, run by a tribe in U.S. (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 7/2)
Tribe opens new school on Morongo Reservation (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 7/2)