Clark County School Board Vice President Linda Young addresses the press during the announcement of West Preparatory Academy’s new elementary school building on Monday, Oct. 13, 2014. The $18 million building will replace the 28 portables the school currently uses for its elementary students.
Monday, Oct. 13, 2014 | 3:53 p.m.
Outside the dusty cluster of 28 portables that is West Preparatory Academy’s elementary school is a large plot of land covered in weeds. That land is the school’s future.
For five years, the portables have been home to the school's 500 elementary students. Now some of the final dollars of Clark County School District’s 1998 Capital Improvement Plan bond will be used to build a permanent grade school.
“We know that it is a long time coming,” Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky said. “It’s time that we honor the commitment we made and move forward here in West Las Vegas to make West Prep K-12 a K-12 permanent structure.”
On Thursday the school board approved a measure allowing the district to use a portion of the remaining $56 million in bond money to build the $18 million elementary school building. The district will also build new classrooms at aging Boulder City High School, a new gym at Sandy Valley School, additions at Wynn and Ronzone elementary schools and maintenance upkeep.
Skorkowsky and Young introduced the project during a media event at the school today. During the event, kindergarten students held up unique drawings of what they envision their permanent school will look like in a couple years.
Construction on the building is expected to begin in about nine months and is expected to be completed in two years, said School Board Trustee Linda Young. Most of the construction will be done while students are on break.
Once it is completed, the portables will be transported to other schools to ease overcrowding.
The new building has been a long time coming. The academy expanded to all grade levels in 2008 with the promise of a permanent building, but the recession and cut-backs made it difficult for the district to deliver, Skorkowsky said.
While the school made do with the portables, Principal Danny Eichelberger said teachers and students couldn’t help but feel separate from school activities. It also presented challenges when teachers wanted to collaborate with other classrooms on projects.
The permanent building has always been a hope for Eichelberger and his staff, and now, it’s become a reality.
“This has been something for the two years I’ve been here, that we’ve hoped and hoped for, forever,” Eichelberger said. “And now it’s here.”
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