Taking On Limited Educational Opportunities in North Las Vegas’ 89030
As measured by Nevada’s School Performance Framework, the 13,660 households in North Las Vegas’ 89030 ZIP Code remain substantially underserved when it comes to high-quality educational options.
Next year, the neighborhood will be home to Clark County’s most anticipated new school in many years, Cristo Rey Saint Viator Las Vegas College Preparatory high school. The Catholic school features a rigorous academic instructional model with a work-study program which has earned national renown for the relevant experience and workplace skills it offers its students.
For now, however, most students in its ten current schools (4,700 of its 7,700 total students) attend a public school rated with one or two stars, the lowest performance ratings on the state’s 5-Star evaluation system.
Its one five-star rated school, Jo Mackey Elementary School, is one of Clark County’s highly-rated selective-enrollment magnet schools. There are no charter schools currently open in 89030.
Marion Cahlan Elementary School earned a four-star rating, thanks to especially strong student growth over time in reading and math.
Educational opportunity represents the most crucial pathway to a middle-class lifestyle in this community, where half of all residents 25 years old or older have less than a high school diploma or equivalent. Average annual household income (median) in 89030 is $30,300, half of the Clark County average. About 7 in 10 residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, and African-Americans comprise 1 in 7.
As most residents lack access to the financial resources it would take to move to a different neighborhood where their children could be served by higher-performing schools, their best hopes for better educational options must come through either through finding ways to access school of choice, or relying on the Clark County School District’s leadership to accelerate its process for making improvements for its underserved families.
For more information on the performance of public schools in Clark County, visit the GreatSchoolsAllKids website operated by Opportunity 180.
