This week, we are profiling the remarkable commitment of Katie Law, the principal of Arapaho Charter High School on the Wind River Indian Reservation and the 2024 Wyoming High School Principal of the Year.
When Katie Law began teaching at Arapaho Charter High School, kids would rush to the window when an ambulance drove by. Response times for ambulances on the Wind River Indian Reservation weren’t fast—and kids knew it meant bad news for someone in their community. So, she took on another job as an EMT.
Finding teachers for the rural, remote school (the town population is about 1,500) was difficult. Finding coaches—a crucial source of motivation and engagement—was even more difficult. So, she took on another job as track and field coach.
By her fifth year of teaching at the school, Katie was the only one left from the staff that had started with her. Former students would return to visit, and she was the only person who would recognize them. The school had gone through 13 principals in nine years. “I watched what that did to the kids,” she said. So, she took on another job as principal.
“Education was not something that I thought that I would ever do”
She was awarded Wyoming State Principal of the Year earlier this year. But becoming a principal was never part of Katie’s plan. As she put it, she had no interest in being an administrator, she “just wanted to be with kids” and remain a classroom teacher.
Her parents were educators, but growing up, she thought she’d do anything but work in education. She was more interested in psychology or music therapy when she went off to college. But while in college, she became a tutor to help make ends meet. It was through tutoring that she found that she truly loved helping people learn.
After a year teaching in Nebraska fresh out of college, Katie took a teaching job at Arapaho Charter High School. She anticipated that it would be tough, but she had a sincere respect for and interest in Indigenous culture—she had grown up next to the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana.
While she doesn’t share the same background of the community she serves, Katie builds genuine relationships with students and families. This is driven by her openness and authenticity—she says she has meaningful conversations with at least 10 students every day. But it’s also driven by sheer commitment. Students and families have witnessed her steadfast dedication to showing up—from the ambulance to the track to the school building—for years. Students have cited her as a reason for coming to school.
A school in the community
Arapaho Charter High School was created to help address the high dropout rates and poor academic performance in the area. There wasn’t a high school within the district boundaries originally, so local students were being sent elsewhere after middle school. Most ended up dropping out. The community saw that this simply wasn’t working for the kids and felt that having a local high school would help solve this serious problem. They created the charter in 2002, and it opened its doors in 2005. Close to 100% of the students are Native American and all qualify for free or reduced lunch. The student body is capped at 50.
When Katie took over as principal at Arapaho Charter in 2018, it was struggling. There were about 30 students enrolled, but only 18 consistently showed up. None were graduating—the graduation rate in 2018 was 0%. But the size and the school’s status as a charter school allowed her the flexibility to build the culture she wanted within the school.
At its core, and in part a reflection of Katie, that culture is defined by relationships and a commitment to the community. Students distribute food monthly at the local food banks. Regularly, the school has community days where the staff cooks for students. And the school embraces and uplifts Arapaho culture and traditions—it emphasizes the Arapaho language, Hinono’eitiit, and students attend powwows and beading classes.
Overall enrollment is now maxed out. Last year, the daily attendance rate increased to about 80%. And the school graduated 14 students—the largest graduating class in Arapaho Charter history. Eight were headed to college or Job Corps. Three were dual enrolled in a community college. Katie’s work has boosted the school’s enrollment, attendance and graduation rates.
Learning to embrace advocacy
Katie has had an unapologetic focus on her students, their families and the greater Arapaho community. She kept her head down and got important work done. Clearly, that focus has produced remarkable results.
Her thinking, however, has recently shifted, influenced in part by her recent Wyoming State Principal of the Year award. As she put it: “I didn’t know that someone teaching in the middle of nowhere could impact anything but their own school building.”
The award emphasized for her that others want to learn from her and her successes—and that she can help them. School leaders from across the country have begun reaching out to her, asking for her insights and advice, including about her keen ability to build a strong school culture and positive relationships with students who have experienced trauma. She now recognizes that she is positioned to share her expertise with other school leaders, helping to improve the lives of many more students.
Sharing her wealth of knowledge, and highlighting the flexibility of her charter school and the autonomy she has had, is a new endeavor. She’s getting comfortable with the idea that she can expand and enable opportunities for others. She’s realized, she said, that she can influence things.
Katie’s work in advocacy, then, is just beginning. Another job.