Good morning, and welcome to the Indy Education newsletter. I’m Rocio Hernandez, The Nevada Independent’s K-12 education reporter. 

This newsletter provides a recap of the latest education stories and highlights interesting educators, students, programs and other events and resources throughout the state. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter and receive it each week via email.

Also, a happy first week of school to Clark, Washoe and Churchill County students and teachers. 

I want to hear from you! Send questions, comments or suggestions on what I should be covering to rocio@thenvindy.com. 

News briefs

🏫 NLV city councilman sworn in to the Clark County School Board — North Las Vegas City Councilman and retired teacher Isaac Barron is returning to the Clark County School District (CCSD) as a nonvoting appointee on the school board. 

He was sworn in to serve as the city’s representative on the board last week. Barron was the city council’s first pick for the position, but the panel reversed his appointment and named teacher’s union staffer Dane Watson to the role temporarily while Barron finished out his last year as a district teacher. The longtime instructor at Rancho High School officially retired from the district this summer. 

🗣️ Applications open for state’s inaugural student advisory group — The Nevada Department of Education is accepting applications for the new Superintendent’s Student Advisory Group for Education (NV SAGE) that was brought to life by the Nevada State Board of Education’s student member Michael Keyes. The student advisory members will act as liaisons between their schools, districts and the state and amplify student voices by sharing their concerns and feedback on education priorities. 

NV SAGE will include two students in grades 8-11 from each school district and two representing the State Public Charter School Authority. Members will serve a two-year term.

Students interested in joining the advisory group can apply online, and forward their interest to their assigned school counselor by the Sept. 30 deadline. More information can be found on the department’s website. 

📝 CCSD opens superintendent search survey — The district is looking for community input to inform its superintendent search process. The online survey, which closes Sept. 3, is available in eight languages including Spanish and Tagalog. The board aims to select a new superintendent by Nov. 1. 

Creating a nonprofit to support unprivileged students’ literacy needs

Celine Chang, 16, has been working as a tutor in her spare time since sixth grade. After the pandemic, the junior now enrolled at Clark High School said she’s seen more students struggling with reading. 

“What I've noticed is that a lot of them don't have books at home, because they often just watch YouTube on their iPads, so their parents don't think they need to buy books anymore,” she said. “As a result, kids’ reading abilities have really been impacted.”

The data backs up Chang. Elementary and middle school students’ English Language Arts proficiency rates from the 2022-23 school year remain 8 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels of 50 percent and 49 percent respectively for those grade levels, according to data from the Nevada Department of Education. 

Chang is working with her friend, Palo Verde High School junior Rohitha Baskaran, to reverse that trend by getting more books into the hands of young students. In April, the pair founded their nonprofit, ReadUp Youth. 

For their first major project, Chang and Baskaran, 16, organized a book drive and gathered more than 1,200 books from local libraries and people around the community. Last month, they donated the books to the After-School All Stars Las Vegas, a nonprofit organization that provides after-school opportunities to students at 21 Title I schools. 

“The mission of this book drive is to offer these kids an opportunity to have books in their homes so that they can read, and then they can improve their literacy rates, because really having the ability to read opens the doors to so many opportunities,” Chang said. 

So what’s next for ReadUp Youth? The students are working on developing an app that will use AI to make reading more appealing for students while also tracking their academic progress. 

As Asian Americans, Baskaran said they are also looking to join in on efforts combating book bans, especially those that are targeting books that are related to diversity or written by authors of color. 

“Books should not be polarized, and books should not be hidden away,” she said. 

Have a student or staffer who we should feature in the next edition of School Spotlight? Share your nominations with me at rocio@thenvindy.com.

Reading Assignments

Phone pouches, rebuilt campus, career programs: Clark County’s first day of school

The district highlighted a recently rebuilt elementary school, a new environmental science middle school program and career and technical education opportunities.

Warmer weather, better pay: New teachers on what brought them to Clark County

Foreign exchange teachers, recent college graduates, former charter school teachers and out-of-state transplants are among the 1,400 new teachers joining the district. 

Meet Joe Ernst: New Washoe schools leader fueled by his belief in students

The new superintendent is taking over the Washoe County School District as it continues efforts to improve its chronic absenteeism, subpar proficiency rates and teacher shortage issues following the pandemic. 

Extra Credit

The Hechinger Report: What education could look like under Trump and Vance

Their platform includes eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and supporting vouchers for private schools. 

Events    

🗣️CCSD superintendent focus group meeting meeting — Aug. 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m. 

The Clark County Black Caucus is looking to gather input from Black community members on the district’s superintendent search. The meeting will be held at the Las Vegas City Hall Chamber located at 495 S. Main St. 

🖍️ Kickoff to kindergarten fair — Aug. 24, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. 

The free event hosted by University of Nevada, Reno Extension, in conjunction with Vegas PBS and the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, will be held at the East Las Vegas Library located at 2851 E. Bonanza Road. It will feature a chance to meet characters from PBS Kids shows, free vision and dental screenings and treats from the Nevada Dairy Council. 

Featured social media post

One of the cutest back to school traditions ❤️