Window Rock High School is a public high school in Fort Defiance, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in unincorporated

Apache County, Arizona Apache County is a County (United States), county in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. Shaped in a long rectangle running north to south, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 66,021. The county ...

. WRHS is the only high school in the

Window Rock Unified School District Window Rock Unified School District (WRUSD) is a school district within Apache County, Arizona, United States. The district comprises seven schools within a 65-mile radius. WRUSD serves several unincorporated areas, including Fort Defiance, Oa ...

. WRUSD, and therefore the high school, serves several unincorporated areas, including Fort Defiance, Oak Springs, St. Michaels,

Window Rock Window Rock, known in Navajo language, Navajo as Tségháhoodzání (), is a city and census-designated place that serves as the capital of the Navajo Nation, the largest List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States, Nativ ...

, and most of

Sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

History

The school district opened by the mid-1950s, with high school students two years later. The first students graduated in 1958 and 1959, and the school was completed in 1960. A devastating fire burned the school to the ground early in April 1981, causing $5 million in damage. A new school was built later in the decade.

Demographics

Window Rock High School had an enrollment of 728 students on October 1, 2010.

Arizona Interscholastic Association The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) is one of two regulatory bodies for high school athletics and activities in the state of Arizona. It comprises all of the state's public district high schools (except Ajo High School, Beaver Dam High ...

figures 99% of the students are of

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

ancestry. The school serves students throughout the surrounding area including Fort Defiance, St. Michaels,

, Hunters Point, Oak Springs, and several others.

Athletics

The school's athletic programs are known as the "Fighting Scouts". It is a member of the

's 3A Conference. The basketball program was previously led by Raul Mendoza.

Notable alumni

Ryneldi Becenti Ryneldi Becenti (born August 11, 1971) is a retired American professional basketball player. She became the first Native American to play in the WNBA when she played for the Phoenix Mercury in 1997. High school Becenti attended Window Rock Hi ...

, the first Native American to play in the WNBA * Stephanie Yellowhair, Navajo transgender activist

References

External links

Window Rock High School Website

Remembering Window Rock High School
{{authority control Public high schools in Arizona Schools in Apache County, Arizona Education on the Navajo Nation 1950s establishments in Arizona