Northwest Arctic Borough School District

Northwest Arctic Borough School District operates schools in eleven villages for approximately 1,850 students. Schools range in size from Deering with 30 students and 4 teachers to Kotzebue with 664 students and 54 teachers. The overall pupil/teacher ratio for the district is 14 to 1. Ninety percent of the students are Inupiaq Eskimo. An eleven member Regional School Board elected from Kotzebue and the surrounding villages governs NWABSD. In addition, each village has its own Advisory School Council. The district administration is located in Kotzebue. The administrative staff travels frequently to all the sites providing assistance and assessing local programs. The district's main goals are to prepare students to be contributing members of a rapidly changing society and to preserve the unique heritage and values of the Inupiaq culture. District programs strive to incorporate traditional activities into all phases of the curriculum.