Elementary, middle and high schools in the same neighborhoods are going to get a lot cozier with each other as they are organized into cooperative teams beginning this month. The Clark County School District will be creating 14 “performance zones” based on location and achievement.
Education
A poor student has to work harder to learn. That’s the premise of a federal program granting $72 million — on top of normal funding for the upcoming school year — to 91 Clark County schools with enough poor children to qualify.
Lucy Keaton helped transform what was one of the lowest performing elementary schools in Las Vegas into an exemplary turn around school, the state’s highest academic designation. During the six years Keaton has been at the school, Hewetson has met adequate yearly progress standards four years running and had gains of at least 10 percent in student achievement on standardized tests every year.
Sandra Ransel is enthusiastic about her job helping nontraditional students earn their diplomas. Her hard work recently earned her recognition as an “Unsung Hero.”
Malissa Muhleck planned to go to college and become a veterinarian after high school. Now she feels more prepared and a little more excited to do so. The former Faiss Middle School student is one of 50 incoming freshmen who attended CampUs Las Vegas, a six-day program meant to prepare kids for high school and beyond.
Nevadans know unemployment better than anyone else. Youngsters here are getting used to it, too. The unemployment rate of Nevadans ages 16 to 19 is 34.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, second behind Georgia. Charles Nguyen, Jaime Estepa and Shane Haddad, 17-year-old valley residents, are finding out firsthand how tough it is.
Concerned parents, teachers, principals and elected leaders met Tuesday to support swift changes to a handful of troubled West Las Vegas schools known as the Prime Six.
In an effort to improve test scores at underperforming schools in the downtown and North Las Vegas areas, the Clark County School District is recommending a dozen reform initiatives for the coming school year. A public input session regarding the district’s plan is scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. today at Nevada Partners, 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd.
Parents at some preschools have more of a reason to stick around after dropping off their kids. The United Way of Southern Nevada has sponsored seven Success By 6 Family Engagement Resource Centers within Las Vegas Valley preschools to engage parents to interact more with their children and each other.
Parents will have a few more choices when they decide where to enroll their kids in school next month. Two new charter schools are scheduled to open in North Las Vegas and Whitney with a capacity of more than 1,000 students.
This summer the superheroes aren’t just in the summer blockbusters and being featured at your friendly neighborhood comic shop. They’re at the Winchester Cultural Center in the original Winchester Players Production “ASAP Superhero Academy.” “ASAP stands for all super, all powerful, and it’s about all these superheroes on a floating island,” said Susan Swanson, who directs the Winchester Players with her brother, Chris Swanson. “It’s a place like ‘Brigadoon.’ All the superheroes wait there until they’re needed.”