On Tuesday afternoon, Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera visited Towaoc for a tour of Kwiyagat Community Academy, the state's first public Native American charter school to be located on a reservation.

This early learning school teaches Ute Mountain Ute culture and language on tribal land south of Cortez, and is forging a path forward for Native students, "reversing" the boarding school period, according to tribal member Lyndreth Wall, who is also a member of the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 Board of Education.

At Kwiyagat, students participate in 40 minutes of cultural lessons each day to keep the Ute culture alive in the tribe’s youths.

Now, the school has 56 students ranging in age from kindergarten through third grade and is planning to add fourth grade next year. The school is open to all students in the area, not just Ute Mountain Ute students. They are hoping to add a fifth grade in the near future.

“The door’s open for them,” Wall said.

The school is accredited by the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Charter School Institute.

Students introduced themselves to Polis while speaking in the Ute language they have been learning at the academy. Learning the Ute language is one of the main pillars of the school because as of April 2022, only a little over 100 Ute Mountain Ute tribal members were fluent in the native language.

The school celebrated its second anniversary on Aug. 23.

During his tour, Polis was taught how to say, “My name is ...” in the Ute language Shoshonean and also visited the Ute Mountain farm and ranch and met with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe tribal council.