Schools in the Las Vegas area show improvement in star ratings, math and English language arts

There's good news for schools in the Clark County School District -- The Nevada Report Card released on Monday shows positive results when it comes to student learning.

More than 136 of CCSD's nearly 370 schools improved their star ratings in the 2024-2025 school year.

Star ratings are a rating system that classifies school performance on a scale of one to five stars, with five being the best.

Star ratings are calculated through categories such as math and English language arts proficiency and growth, graduation rates, and student attendance.

Quannah McCall Elementary School's principal and CCSD leaders surprised teachers on Monday morning, revealing that they are officially a four-star school . That's a jump of two stars from the previous year.

"In ELA and math, we just really push tier one core instruction. That is the basis of everything that we do at the elementary level," said Amanda Lush, principal at the North Las Vegas school.

Lush, who took on her role just weeks before the COVID pandemic, says having children start learning early, as well as being fully staffed, also provided an advantage.

"We're fortunate at McCall that we do have two full-day pre-K programs, so we have 20 kids in each program, and that builds the foundation for everything," she said.

Counselor Gianna Rodriguez says that in an area facing more challenges than others, what has really improved student scores is involving parents.

"Our parents come to parent meetings once a month, and they learn skills about, you know, how to check their kids' grades, how to help with homework," said Rodriguez.

CCSD Superintendent Jhone Ebert was there to celebrate with teachers during the announcement. She said 48 schools received five stars, up from 28 schools in the previous year.

Overall, 37% of schools increased their star rankings.

Ebert says there are several factors that led to the improvements.

Making sure that we have high-quality tier one instruction," said Ebert. "Today is a professional development day. We need to make sure that all of our teachers have the training that they need to meet every single child where they're at right now. Also, too, we have parent-teacher conferences coming up at the elementary level.

Due to a cyber-attack that has caused an outage of some websites, individual data for math and English Language Arts proficiency are not yet available for the 2024-2025 school year.

However, according to the Nevada Department of Education, all grade levels in the state showed improvement in math and English Language Arts proficiency.

To compare, 30.1% of students in Clark County were proficient in math in the 2023-2024 school year, a 1.9 percentage-point increase compared to the 2022-23 school year.

In English Language Arts, the CCSD proficiency rate was 39.3%, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous year.

"When we are all together next year, the data is going to show that we have surpassed pre-pandemic levels and are making a very steep climb on behalf of all of our children," said Ebert.

She says this year, the district is focusing on the Core 4: expanding pre-K, early literacy, increasing math scores, and workforce development at the high school level.

Read More

Federal education funding freeze affects non-profits in the Las Vegas Valley

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Several non-profits in the Las Vegas valley are adjusting to losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in education funding after the Trump Administration put a freeze on some funding.

The White House announced earlier this month that it was reviewing $6.8 billion in education funding for some after-school and English language learning programs.

"We believe that we need to give youth exposure to items, you never know what's going to spark their interest," Yolanda Mationg, the chief development officer for the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada, said.

There are 13 Boys & Girls Club locations across the Las Vegas valley, and they offer before-and-after-school programming for children from ages 5 to 18. Yet, a federal funding freeze has left them in a difficult position.

"I'm happy to say that at this time that we are not turning any members away. We do fundraising efforts to make up that gap," Mationg said.

One of those major fundraising efforts is the 12 ^th Annual Sneaker Ball taking place on Sept. 18 at the Donald W. Reynolds Clubhouse located at 2980 Robindale Road in Henderson.

When asked how much the organization needs to fundraise to make up for the federal funding gap, Mationg said, "I'm looking to fundraise a million dollars."

The White House previously said the pause is to review whether the funds align with President Donald Trump's policies.

"We have spent $3 trillion on education in our country since 1980, when this department was established, and our scores have continued to decline. We are not doing something right," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on June 3 at a congressional hearing.

The Trump Administration unfroze $1.3 billion for after-school programs over the weekend, which could be good news for After-School All-Stars Greater Las Vegas.

The nonprofit's executive director Jodi Manzella said $1.5 million is being withheld, affecting programs at 13 Clark County School District schools.

U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nevada, held a press conference last Friday at After-School All-Stars, a nonprofit she founded.

"This type of uncertainty. Are the funds there? Are they not there? It's incredibly disruptive. It's not a way to run our country and it's certainly not a way to run an organization," Lee said.

According to the City of Las Vegas, it will not be offering free after-school programs through its ReInvent program at seven CCSD elementary schools as long as "the grant that funded it is frozen."

In an email to 8 News Now, the Nevada Department of Education stated it was notified that federal funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers would be released Monday. That is the grant After-School All-Stars relies on to fund its programs.

A spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Education said, 'The Nevada Department of Education remains committed to providing timely updates to grant recipients and stakeholders as additional information becomes available.'

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, visit KLAS.

Read More

Funding freeze threatens after-school and summer programs in Palm Beach

More than $6 billion in federal grants, which help fund after-school and summer programs nationwide, have been frozen by the Trump administration — raising concerns for families, educators and nonprofit leaders across the country.

The freeze affects 21st Century Community Learning Centers, including programs operated by the Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs. In Palm Beach County, Boys and Girls Club CEO Jaene Miranda says the decision could have serious consequences for thousands of children and hundreds of workers.

Sign up for our Newsletters

"It was a surprise to all of us because this is funding that was approved congressionally and signed off by the president. This is part of the fiscal year 2025 budget. So there was no reason to think that the funding would be there for us,"

Boys and Girls Clubs nationwide typically help lower-income families with summer and after school programs, with affordable prices of $30 a year per family, compared to other summer and after school programs that cost thousands of dollars. "This type of programming typically ranges from $6,000 a year to $12,000 a year. For a family, for one child, and when these parents are struggling just to make sure that they have food on the table, that they have a roof over their heads, the last thing that they need is that expense for that type of childcare,"

Miranda said, "Traditionally, you will find our clubs in the neighborhoods where there's high poverty. So those are the kids that we're targeting. We do some wonderful things, like transport the kids from the local schools. So let's use Riviera Beach or even Belle Glade as an example, we actually will bus our kids to our club sites, so that the parents don't have to worry about them arriving safely, because typically in those neighborhoods, there may be a tendency to be higher crime. So we don't want the kids, especially a six-year-old, walking the streets to come to our, to our environment."

According to Miranda, the 20 Boys and Girls Club locations in the county are at risk of losing approximately $18 million in funding that supports both summer and after-school programming.

"I think that leaving thousands of kids, and I'm talking hundreds of thousands across the nation, without a place to go after school, during, you know, just in a few short weeks is probably something that, I think, my hope is that the administration will release the funds shortly," she said.

More than 8,000 children across Palm Beach County, including those in the public school system and Boys and Girls Clubs, would be affected by the funding loss. In addition, approximately 720 employees could be impacted.

"And that means their families will have to look for alternatives, and we have a very short window," Miranda said.

Miranda noted that the organization hasn't had access to the federal funds since July 1. With the school year approaching quickly, planning has become increasingly difficult.

"The funds are passed through to the states in July, and then they were allowed to start using those funds on August 1. As you know, since the schools don't start until August 11, we still have a couple of weeks. I understand that the administration wants to do reviews of programs and make sure that we're being fiduciary, really responsible to the citizens of this country. But there's a way to do those reviews and still not cause devastating effect to the local communities," she said.

While the freeze remains in place, organizational leaders are preparing for various scenarios in case the funding is permanently cut. Miranda is urging people to contact state representatives about how important the Boys and Girls Club are to communities.

When asked why the 21st century should be preserved, Miranda responded, "It's the only federal funding that is actually passed through to the states that supports after school or what we like to call not, you know, non-school time programming, which includes summer camp, of course, or any non-school days, like when teachers have their teacher planning days. The 21st century is there to support us. It's the only, it's also a federal pass-through to the states. So I know the administration wants local control. The 21st century delivers on that. It is a pass-through from the federal government to the states, and they determine how that program is going to be activated in their state."

TOP STORIES FROM WPBF:

Special edition Stanley tumblers are selling out, but these are still in stock

READ THE FULL STORY: Funding freeze threatens after-school and summer programs in Palm Beach

CHECK OUT WPBF: Get the latest West Palm Beach news. WPBF gives you online, anytime access to the biggest Florida news and West Palm Beach weather of the day.

Read More

Larkspur extends parking restrictions near Redwood High School

July 6 - Larkspur is expanding a parking program to prevent Redwood High School students from using space in nearby neighborhoods.

The Larkspur City Council reviewed the program in the Larkspur Marina and Heather Gardens neighborhoods at a meeting on Wednesday. Council members directed city staff to keep the program as is and decided against an option to charge a $50 permit fee.

The preferential parking program was created in 2019 after reports of littering and reckless driving by students parking in the neighborhoods. There is no fee for the permit and it doesn't expire annually, though the City Council did contemplate a $50 fee when first creating the program.

The program is only in effect during the school year. Its costs nearly break even, with expenses — including $7,300 alone in police services — totaling $17,300, and revenue from about 260 citations coming to $17,000, according to a staff report.

The city reviewed the pilot program in 2023. The council members directed city staff to omit warnings, set a $100 fine and remove an escalating fine.

Around 80 residents completed a survey about the program in June. Generally, respondents felt the program was successful, and noted the process to get a permit was not too difficult. Eighty percent of respondents said the program should continue as is. When asked if the program should have a permit fee, only around 36% of respondents supported that.

Another common complaint we've heard over the last few years is that there isn't enough signage," said City Clerk Alison Foulis. "So we asked people about that.

The majority of those who said more signage is needed lived in the Larkspur Marina area, Foulis said.

Councilmember Sarah Margulies said that after looking at the sign maps, she felt she would get a ticket because the signs appeared too far apart.

City Manager Dan Schwarz said that a few months ago, the signs were replaced with more visible ones.

"Do we feel that people who live in a certain area should have an exclusive right to public parking on their street?" Councilmember Scot Candell asked.

Candell noted how parking is limited in general, and wondered if the City Council still supports the philosophy that created the program.

Schwarz noted that the areas have shallow driveways and the program reduces conflict.

"They are not always very cautious of the world around them," Schwarz said about teenagers.

We had two main complaints. We had kids racing through those neighborhoods at high speeds, very dangerous," he said. "Then we had the kids who were hanging out by their cars and throwing trash into people's yards, and when they were actually confronted by homeowners, verbally abusing the homeowners for asking them to pick up their trash.

Vice Mayor Stephanie Andre wondered about making the areas two-hour parking zones, except for residents. Schwarz said it would increase the costs five to six times because timed zones require intense enforcement.

"This is timely because Redwood is closing their east parking lot for the installation of solar panels and that may bring more student parking and faculty parking into our residential area come August," said Mayor Catherine Way.

© 2025 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.). Visit www.marinij.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Read More