Overview:
Navajo Preparatory School broke ground on a new Indigenous STEM facility designed to blend Diné cultural knowledge with science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The project has received $18 million in state and federal funding, with the school seeking Navajo Nation matching funds to complete construction. Navajo Nation Speaker Crystalyne Curley emphasized the importance of investing in education, language, culture and Navajo youth. The facility is targeted to open in January 2028.
Navajo Nation Speaker Crystalyne Curley attended the ceremony with members of the 25th Navajo Nation Council’s Health, Education and Human Services Committee, including Chair Vince James and Council Delegates Helena Nez Begay, Curtis Yanito and George Tolth.
The planned facility is designed to bring Indigenous knowledge together with science, technology, engineering and mathematics while creating opportunities for students to pursue academic and career interests without losing connection to Diné language, culture and identity.
“Education, along with our Navajo language and culture, has always been one of our top priorities. It takes teamwork and an entire network of people working together. Our students asked for a school system that is here for them and willing to protect our language and who we are as Navajo people. We heard them, and our responsibility as leaders is to support them and help find the resources to make those opportunities possible,” Curley said.
Major State and Federal Investment
Navajo Preparatory School President Shawna Allison Becenti said the project has received substantial support from federal and state partners.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich secured $2 million in congressional direct spending for the project in 2024, providing its first major funding commitment. New Mexico later provided $10 million in capital outlay funding over two years, followed by another $6 million through the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department’s Tribal Infrastructure Fund.
The school has also secured resolutions of support from all five Navajo Nation agencies and 110 chapters as it seeks Navajo Nation matching funds for the final phase of construction.
School officials emphasized that continued partnerships with Navajo Nation, state and federal leaders will be necessary to complete the project.
Blending Indigenous Knowledge and Technology
Becenti described the facility as a place where Indigenous knowledge and contemporary technology will work side by side.
Students are expected to have opportunities to weave, code, perform, design and create within the new building, reflecting an approach that places traditional knowledge and modern innovation alongside one another.
The facility is intended to support STEM education, career preparation, cultural preservation and community wellness. Navajo Prep has set January 2028 as its target opening date.
Speakers at the groundbreaking described the project as an investment in Navajo students and the Nation’s future workforce. They highlighted the longstanding scientific and engineering knowledge practiced by Diné people and the opportunity to showcase the abilities of students from communities throughout the Navajo Nation.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also recognized Navajo Prep’s academic accomplishments and emphasized the importance of providing students with modern educational facilities.
She said investments in educational infrastructure give students the space, resources and dignity needed to succeed while stressing that technological advancement should remain connected to the cultural knowledge and human values students bring into the classroom.
Seeking Navajo Nation Matching Funds
While the groundbreaking marks a major milestone, Navajo Prep officials said additional funding is needed to complete the remaining phase of the project.
Speaker Curley acknowledged that securing Navajo Nation appropriations will require continued work with Council delegates because funding measures ultimately require legislative consideration and votes.
She encouraged Navajo Prep officials and students to maintain communication with Council members as the school seeks matching funds.
“We have been here time and time again celebrating one milestone after another at Navajo Prep. We have continued to meet our partners halfway, and that partnership is what makes accomplishments like this possible. As we move forward, we must continue investing in education, our language, our culture and, most importantly, our children,” Curley said.
The groundbreaking represents the latest step in Navajo Preparatory School’s ongoing campus development and its broader mission of preparing Navajo students for higher education and future careers.
For Navajo Prep, the Indigenous STEM facility is also intended to demonstrate that academic achievement, technological innovation and Indigenous identity can reinforce one another — giving Diné students opportunities to pursue the future while remaining grounded in their language, culture and community.
