Wingate High School (New Mexico)

Wingate High School is a Native American high school in unincorporated McKinley County, New Mexico, operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).^[2] It has grades 9-12.^[3] It has a Fort Wingate postal address.

Wingate High School
Location
1737 Shush Dr Fort Wingate, New Mexico
Information
School type	Boarding school
Teaching staff	30.50 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	344 (2023–2024)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	11.28[1]
Affiliation	Bureau of Indian Education

It includes boarding facilities.^[4]

History

In 1973 the BIA closed Manuelito Hall, a dormitory in Gallup, New Mexico which housed Native American students attending public schools. It planned to send the 110 high school students to Wingate.^[5]

Since a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, New Mexico state law enforcement authorities no longer have jurisdiction at the school.^[6] Any crimes committed there are investigated by federal authorities.

In 2003 the BIE selected Wingate as one of several schools to have replacement buildings. That year, the existing auditorium had a crack.^[7]

Student body

The school's students are members of the Navajo nation. In 2003 it had about 700 students.^[7]

Campus

As of 1956^[update] the dormitory is a former military barracks that also houses students at Wingate Elementary.^[8]

Operations

From circa 1973 the school began allowing pregnant students to remain in school, and by 1993 it had family planning services.^[9]

Athletics

In 2006 a tennis club was being established in the Fort Wingate community by David Dantzer, and school administrators made plans to use the club as an after-school activity and a mechanism to establish Wingate High's tennis club.^[10]