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Under Construction

By TFK Kid Reporter Rebecca Carrol/Las Vegas

Clark county school district (CCSD) in Las Vegas, Nevada, is one of the fastest-growing school systems in the United States. About 1,000 new students arrive each month! With more than 268,000 students, it is the sixth-largest system in the nation.

CCSD is doing its best to keep up with the new kids, but it isn't easy. Students in overcrowded classrooms are moved to different classes with fewer kids. This can happen right in the middle of a school year, when students are comfortable with their teachers and classmates. Suddenly, everything changes, including the student's class schedule.

Toni Grimes, a fifth-grade student at Cozine Elementary School, suffered through it more than once at her old school. "I had to go through four teachers" in one year, she says.

Each year, Clark County builds a lot of schools. That way, when an entire school becomes overcrowded, some students can be moved to a new one. Last fall, CCSD opened 12 schools for the current school year. Six thousand students were transferred into the area's seven newly built elementary schools.

Adam Hand, a fifth grader at Cozine Elementary, changed schools in third grade. "I was upset," Adam says. "I had to leave my friends and teachers."

The rapid construction of additional schools does have its good points. "Students get to go to a school that is not overcrowded," says Dusty Dickens, a CCSD official. Usually, that school is closer to the student's home.

District leaders estimate that nearly 300,000 students will be enrolled next year, and 37 more schools are in the works. It seems the flood of kids won't end anytime soon.

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