Education

Mohave County high school has spirit(s): June 6, 2013; By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times; Principal Steve Elwood enters the narrow passageway where nobody else at Lee Williams High School dares to go.“This place gives people the creeps,” Elwood says. Talk about school spirit. Some believe the campus is haunted by restless phantoms from a previous century, when Kingman was a frontier town and Arizona still a territory.

Nevada High School Proficiency Exam likely out for students in Class of 2016 and beyond: June 5, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; The dreaded high school proficiency exams are being phased out. Starting in the 2014-15 school year, thousands of high school sophomores, juniors and seniors no longer will have to take the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam.

State's school ratings – to be released Friday – closely resemble CCSD's star rankings: June 5, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; The Nevada Department of Education will release its first star rating data for 317 Clark County schools on Friday. Over the past two years, the Clark County School District released star ratings as part of its school rankings list, known as the School Performance Framework. The idea behind the rating system was to allow families to determine the best schools for their children and for educators to model best teaching practices at the top-ranked five-star schools.

Student loan rates the next fight on D.C. lawmakers' agenda: June 5, 2013; By Karoun Demirjian; High school graduations begin this week in Nevada, and seniors will be unleashed to pursue post-secondary plans, which for many, include a turn through college. As graduates collect their diplomas, lawmakers in Washington will be working to try to guarantee them a more affordable chance to continue their education.

New CCSD superintendent: We must 'do better by our students': June 5, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; Patrick Skorkowsky has some big shoes to fill as the new superintendent of the Clark County School District. The School District offered the Las Vegas Sun a 10-minute interview with Skorkowsky on Tuesday.

Lawmakers OK money for Thomas & Mack upgrades, Nevada State College: June 3, 2013; By Cy Ryan; More money has been poured into construction for UNLV and the Nevada State College in Clark County by the Legislature that also gave the go-ahead for a study for building a large events center at UNLV.

School Board reappoints Skorkowsky as CCSD superintendent: June 3, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; The Clark County School Board unanimously reappointed Pat Skorkowsky as superintendent on Monday amid concerns about the transparency of his initial appointment two weeks ago.

$2.5 billion school funding bill OK'd, sent to governor: June 3, 2013; By Cy Ryan; The Assembly approved a bill directing $2.5 billion to public schools to reduce class sizes and handle inflation and higher enrollments in the next two years.

School buses running late; no cause for concern, district says: June 3, 2013; By Sun Staff; Clark County School District students who ride buses might arrive home Monday later than normal, a district spokeswoman said. CCSD is expecting some delays with the afternoon dropoff of students who take the school bus as a result of end-of-year testing schedules, Melinda Malone, the district’s press secretary, said in a news release. She added there should be no cause for concern.

In effort to reduce class sizes, bill would send more money to districts: June 2, 2013; By Cy Ryan; Senate Bill 522 will raise the state’s average support per pupil from the present $5,374 to $5,590 next school year and to $5,676 in fiscal 2015.

Teach for America money clears Senate, but prospects in Assembly uncertain: June 1, 2013; By Cy Ryan; A program to set aside $1 million a year to recruit 50 teachers for high-risk schools in Clark County easily passed the Senate 20-1 on Friday.

Complaint alleges School Board again violating open meetings law in redo of superintendent appointment: May 31, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; Former Clark County School Board candidate Kevinn Donovan filed a second complaint against the Clark County School District on Thursday, alleging a meeting scheduled for Monday to redo Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky's appointment was not properly noticed.

Wife says former principal being thrown under bus over national conference charges: May 31, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; At least one Clark County School Board member and Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky knew of Sunrise Mountain High School's plans to host a national conference that taxpayers are now being forced to bail out.

City's oldest Catholic school falls victim to low enrollment: May 30, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; After a decade of declining student enrollment, Las Vegas' oldest Catholic school will shutter its doors at the end of this school year. St. Joseph Catholic School, which opened in 1948, no longer has the funds to continue operating past July, said the Rev. Dave Casaleggio, who oversees the school.

Whitney Elementary basking in afterglow of Bieber visit, donation: May 30, 2013; By Paul Takahashi; Teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber surprised hundreds of students at Whitney Elementary School earlier this month when he presented a $150,000 check to help feed the school's many homeless and low-income students.

Email Newsletters

To view/update your newsletter subscriptions and interests, please visit our Preference Center.

Talking Points: NBA Finals in Vegas: Sports books took hit on Heat; zig-zag calls for Spurs tonight: Sports book directors may have flopped to the floor harder than Chris Bosh as game four of the NBA Finals wound down. Unlike the minor ...

Talking Points: NBA Finals in Vegas: What the odds say about home court format for Heat, Spurs: LeBron James has experienced both the supposed greatest benefit and biggest drawback to the NBA Finals’ 2-3-2 home court format over the past couple of ...

Talking Points: NBA Finals in Vegas: Spurs now favored in series but history on Heat's side in game two: Fans in San Antonio might as well crank Rihanna’s breakthrough single “Umbrella” and dust off those black and silver Robert Horry jerseys. They should party ...