Tlingit & Haida brings four early learning programs under one Juneau roof

The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has consolidated Head Start, Early Head Start, its Little Eagles and Ravens Nest (LEARN) child care program and its Tlingit language immersion nest into one early learning center in Juneau, the tribe said in a video released Thursday.

"The whole concept was bringing us together under one roof as an early learning center," said Ethan Petticrew, the tribe's senior director of early education. LEARN will add more classrooms by December, he said.

The tribe and the City and Borough of Juneau announced a lease in November 2025 that let the tribe bring three Head Start classrooms, LEARN and youth programs into classroom space at the former Floyd Dryden Middle School, with remodeling scheduled for completion by January 2026, according to the tribe. In an April video on its Prince of Wales Island campuses, the tribe said the Floyd Dryden center would bring multiple programs together so it could braid them to support families, according to the April 2026 recording. Alaska News previously covered the tribe building two early education campuses on Prince of Wales.

Head Start is a free, federally funded program for children ages 3 to 5 that supports school readiness, the tribe said. Waughnita James-Elton, LEARN's child care center administrator, said the program serves infants, toddlers and preschool-age children with a play-based day that tries to incorporate Tlingit culture.

The immersion nest, Haa Yoo X̱'atángi Kúdi, serves children ages 3 to 5 and teaches cultural, social and academic lessons only in Lingít, the Tlingit language, the tribe said. A 2022 federal grant abstract says the tribe proposed 663 hours a year of Lingít immersion instruction, using Lingít as the medium of instruction alongside preschool assessment.

One parent in the video said all three of their children came through the nest, gaining the language and pride in understanding it, and bonding with classmates the families call "nesty besties."

Kayla Tripp, the Head Start director, said the center is the youngest students' first exposure to friends, to adults outside their family and to sharing, taking turns and learning to state their emotions, skills they carry into elementary school.

Petticrew described the center's broader purpose: "We feel that culture heals, and if our kids are immersed in cultural education throughout their life, then we know we will grow up as strong people with healthy families, and that's our ultimate goal."