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The Flagstaff Bordertown Dormitory (FBD) currently houses 109 Indigenous youth from various reservations in Arizona. This home-living program sits just north of Flagstaff in its own corner of the pine trees and has been in operation since 1958.

Since its opening, FBD’s mission has been to “prepare and empower all students for the choices and challenges they will face in the future,� and it continues to do so to this day.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) opened the original dormitory -- previously known as Kinlani Bordertown Dormitory until its name change in 2003 -- to serve as a residential facility for Native American youth housing up to 300 students from grades K-12. Around the late 1970s, the dormitory began only housing high school students.

In 2008, the entire facility was renovated for $7 million. It now holds a capacity of 160 students.

Despite changes over the year, the philosophy for guiding Native American youth has stayed the same.

FBD facilitates self-aware and self-sufficient young adults in ninth to 12th grade by giving them the space to prepare them for professional expectations and standards for their daily lives while keeping them rooted in their traditions as Native people. Students stay at FBD from the beginning to end of their academic year, some even residing at the dormitory for all four years of their high school career.

While staying at FBD, students attend schools such as Flagstaff High School and Coconino High School to advance their academic excellence and, hopefully, move on to college.

There are four wings in the dormitory building, two for the girls and two for the boys. On either side of the hallways are college-style rooms, which each student has the freedom to personalize.

Each wing has its own living room, kitchenette, laundry room and computer lab, simulating a college dorm environment to prepare them for higher education and teaching them life-management skills.

All students living in the dorms stick to a consistent schedule mandated by the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), specifically CFR Part 36 Subpart G, which lays out how FBD should operate due to being a federally funded program.

Everyday students are provided with freshly cooked meals for breakfast and dinner, and all of them eat in the cafeteria just one building over. During their free time, students can participate in recreational activities such as basketball, volleyball or disc golf, or hang out in their dorms. All students are encouraged to stay productive throughout the day and participate in recreational and enrichment activities.

FBD offers an after-school program to assist students with tutoring and college and career readiness. To ensure a good academic performance, from Monday through Thursday each student is required to do one hour of study hall or tutoring. Students falling behind are required to do two hours. This is to hold them responsible for maintaining a 2.5 GPA -- a requirement to stay enrolled at FBD.

Cultural connection

Theresa Boone-Shuler has been the CEO of FBD for 10 years and is proud of the work done at the dormitory. Part of her goal as CEO is not only to support students for their journey after high school, but also to empower them in their Native American identity.

“I like to promote our Native language, whether that be Navajo or Hopi,� Boone-Shuler said. “We encourage our students to go back to their traditions.�

There is a culture room inside of the dormitory serving as a designated space for spiritual and communal gatherings. Students can participate in various cultural activities. These activities range from learning how to make traditional ribbons to playing a Diné Language Game, or practices specific to their tribe.

Boone-Shuler said these activities are not just games but instead are teachings of their tradition.

FBD only accepts students with tribal blood with representation from tribes such as the Navajo, Hopi and Otoe-Missouria, to name a few. This allows the students to connect with peers on shared Indigenous identity -- which can be beneficial for those who have a hard time being away from their reservations.

After-school enrichment

FBD has partnered with organizations such as Northern Arizona University, Coconino Community College, Native Americans for Community Action (NACA) and more in order to offer events to get the students thinking of possibilities for their futures, promote their interests, and keep them active mentally and physically.

Almost every day the students have after-school activities led by staff or other organizations. On Mondays, they could be in Buffalo Park on an evening walk or playing flag football. Other staff-led activities include fishing, sewing and painting.

One day a week, students visit the Museum of Northern Arizona, where they learn about gardening traditional herbs at the Colton Garden, cook meals accustomed to their culture and learn the process of filmmaking. These activities enrich their life skills and exposes them to a productive outlet outside of academics.

Aside from the programs FBD offers, students participate in sports or clubs for their high school -- which is highly encouraged. 

“We are just here to promote Native youth,� Boone-Shuler said. “We are no different than anyone else. We want the same thing. We want the American dream to be successful, to be good citizens, good stewards of the land, but at the same time maintain our language and our culture.�

Boone-Shuler said FBD is now taking new applicants for the next academic year and hopes they can reach full capacity. For more information on enrollment, visit .