Let the summer begin, shouts most students

Teresa Hinds

Friday, June 6, 1997 | 5:47 a.m.

"Well we got no class/And we got no principles/And we got no innocence/We can't even think of a word that rhymes./School's out for summer./School's out forever./School's been blown to pieces."

-- Alice Cooper,

"School's Out"

Alice Cooper's "School's Out" was every student's anthem during the summer of 1972, a time when year-round schools, tracks and overcrowding weren't even envisioned for the Clark County School District. Everyone started summer vacation the same day.

But the lyrics apply only to about 129,000 local students today, the official first day of summer vacation for nine-month schools.

The remaining 50,000 elementary and middle school students in year-round schools will have to wait at least another month before they can sing the next chorus of the Cooper song: "No more pencils/No more rule-books/No more teacher's dirty looks."

Ninety-seven of the district's 136 elementary schools ended classes Thursday. Students enrolled in the remaining 39 elementary schools on a year-round schedule will have to wait until July 18 or Aug. 8, depending on which track they are on, to go off to summer camp or on family vacations.

The majority of students in the nine year-round middle schools will have to continue hitting the books until the second week of August, but students on track four can start jockeying for position in the video arcades beginning July 8.

The district's remaining 18 middle schools and all of the 27 high schools are on a nine-month schedule. For adults, the end of classes on Thursday also means the end of peaceful mid-week shopping trips to the mall and uncrowded weekday matinees at local theaters.

The staggered school completion dates also mean paying extra attention to the school speed zones posted throughout the valley. There are 57 12-month school crossing zones in operation this summer and fines for speeding through a school zone are double the norm.