[4] Evelyn Page, who lived in the pueblo, served as principal until her death, at 55 years of age, in 1964.
At that time community members asked for a new school; at that time 24 students in the area were attending standard public schools even though they could attend Zia Day School if they wanted to; according to Lawrence Wright, the principal, the poor condition of the Zia Day School buildings was the major factor.
The building, with a capacity of 157, was to have 44,425 square feet (4,127.2 m2) of space and have a cost of $7,600,000.
Its student capacity was to be over two times as large as that of the previous facility.
[7] The curriculum included instruction in the Keres language.