A mix of smiling and sleepy students entered Legacy High School in North Las Vegas on a warm Monday morning for the first day of the 2024-25 school year.

A full performance by the school’s drumline, cheerleading and color guard teams greeted students on their way to their morning classes. Staff members helped lost students get to where they needed to go. A staff member handed out grab-and-go breakfast bags.

It was one of many back-to-school events planned throughout the Clark County School District to welcome the 300,000 students and showcase a recently rebuilt elementary school, a new middle school environmental science program and career and technical education opportunities.

“There is a lot of positive energy and excitement as we welcome our students back,” said Interim Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell. “Our teachers are doing a great job.”

New security and mobile phone guidelines

This school year brought some changes that Legacy High School students noticed before they even set foot on campus.

Students were directed to a single entrance where staff verified their identities as part of the district’s recently expanded ID policy for students in grades 6 through 12. This change was intended to increase security but also slowed their arrival on campus.

A district spokesperson said students will be given leeway during the first few weeks of the school year to get used to this new part of their morning routine and have new photos taken.

Another new aspect of school life? Signal-blocking cell phone bags attached to the desks of some classrooms at Legacy High School. This year, high school students must keep their phones in their bags during class to avoid distractions.

Legacy was among 10 percent of middle and high schools that piloted the program last school year, said Principal Belinda Marentic.

Although a student-initiated petition against the new rule was launched weeks before the first day and received thousands of signatures, Marentic said parents did not oppose the rule. Students were also open to it, she added.

At Legacy, Marentic said teachers can choose to attach the bags to the desks, as some have already done, or hand them to students as they enter.

An old school becomes new

The atmosphere was different at Red Rock Elementary School in Las Vegas, west of Interstate 15, as parents dropped their children off at the newly constructed school grounds. Students gave teachers a high-five as they entered the school. They also received a visit from the school district’s bookmobile, a kind of library on wheels, and were allowed to take two free books, pencils and bookmarks.

The elementary school was rebuilt last year as part of the district’s bond-funded capital improvement program, which can only be used for projects such as new school construction, school renovations, phased renovations, renovations, modernizations, technology improvements and transportation.

Principal Chantae Readye said her entire faculty is excited about the finished project.

“There were teeth everywhere,” she said. “Everyone was so happy to be here and see the size. It’s huge compared to our previous school and you can see the amenities they have access to.”

The school educates nearly 500 students from preschool through fifth grade. More than half identify as Hispanic.

The original campus was built in 1955 and was old, Readye said. Some of the buildings contained asbestos. Power and air conditioning sometimes went out, forcing teachers to hold their classes outdoors.

“To have a building where everything works and there are places where the kids can go outside to learn instead of having to take them outside to learn, I think that’s very exciting,” Readye said.

The campus now has a shaded courtyard where classes can gather to learn and play. The second floor has large windows with views of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, downtown and The Strat north of the Strip, and a library with books and areas to sit and study.

“I think it shows that this city and our county and the people care enough about the kids in our community to give them a school that works for them,” she said. “So we’re not telling the kids in the poorer areas that they deserve schools that are falling apart or buildings that are falling apart around their ears.”

High school programs prepare students for future careers

Natasha Lerutte, principal of East Career and Technical Academy (ECTA), boasted about the eight career opportunities East Las Vegas offers its nearly 2,000 students.

Two of these programs – early childhood education and teaching and training – prepare students for careers in education. ECTA has its own laboratory, the Tiny Titan Preschool, where students in the early childhood education program can work with about 20 preschool children for two hours each day, three days a week. In their final year, students in the teaching and training program complete an internship at an elementary or middle school, where they can practice teaching using lesson plans they develop under the guidance of a teacher.

“They’re actually creating all the lessons … just like a teacher would,” said education program director Linda Pheasant, who works with the high school students and 3- to 5-year-olds in the preschool program. “So they’re already practicing everything a teacher would do.”

Both programs allow students to earn college credits from Nevada State University.

Lerutte said some graduates of the program have returned to ECTA as teachers or substitute teachers while working on their license.

Junior Lilly Woods, who is participating in the teaching and training program, said she has always enjoyed working with children and was inspired to pursue a career in early childhood education by her father, who teaches at a nearby elementary school. She said the program has been an eye-opening experience.

“There are so many more steps to actually teaching a child … because I thought teachers were just handed a lesson plan,” Woods said. “They actually have to learn about their kids and what they’re going through and how they’re feeling emotionally, and also how to manage them in the classroom.”

Monday was Sofia Nuñez’s last first day of high school. The senior reflected on the last three years, which she said went by quickly, and the year and a half of middle school experience she lost due to the pandemic and distance learning. But she said she was able to make up for it with all the experience she gained in the high school’s marketing and hospitality program, clubs and skills like public speaking and leadership classes.

“I think that definitely helped me,” said Nuñez, who is pursuing a career as a nurse. “As a freshman, I was very shy.”

New environmental science program is being created

The Lyal Burkholder Academy of Environmental Science in Henderson had two debuts for new and returning students — a new name and a new magnet program for science, technology, engineering and math. The middle school was one of two that converted to a magnet school thanks to a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education — bringing the district’s total number of magnet schools to 42. The grant also funded the school’s new design and modeling lab, which is equipped with new desktops and 3D printers that enable project-based learning opportunities.

The school awaits additional funding to expand its soilless hydroponic and aeroponic gardening systems.

Principal Christopher Hermes said he and his staff spent hours training to develop the curriculum for the school’s environmental science magnet program, one of the few in the country offered at the middle school level.

The magnet program includes courses such as design and modeling, environmental anthropology, and podcasting.

“They learn basic computer design, gardening and science skills,” Hermes said. “These are things that can be applied in almost any field.”