Washoe County School District

The Washoe County School District (WCSD) is a public school district providing public education to students in all parts of Washoe County, Nevada, including the cities of Reno and Sparks, and the unincorporated communities of Verdi, Incline Village, Sun Valley and Gerlach.[3] The Washoe County School District is the second largest school district in Nevada with approximately 64,000 students enrolled in 96 schools.

Washoe County School District
Address
425 E. 9th Street Reno NV 89512
Northwest Nevada
Reno, Sparks
, Washoe County, Nevada, Nevada, 89512
District information
TypePublic
MottoEvery Child, By Name And Face, To Graduation
GradesPre-K-12
PresidentBeth Smith [1]
Vice-presidentAdam Mayberry[1]
AppointedJoe Ernst
Governing agencyIndependently Governed
Schools104
Students and staff
Students64,192 (2015)[2]
Teachers3,542 (2017)[2]
Staff272 (2015)[2]
Student–teacher ratio20.82 (2015)[2]
Other information
ScheduleBalanced
Websitewww.washoeschools.net

A board of seven elected trustees governs the Washoe County School District. The current president of the WCSD Board of Trustees is Beth Smith. The trustees appoint a superintendent to lead the district in day-to-day operations.

Superintendent

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Superintendent Joe Ernst leads the Washoe County School District.[4] Joe Ernst was appointed to replace Dr. Susan Enfield, who resigned in 2023, and has served in the position since July 1, 2024. [5]

The Superintendent, as Chief Executive Officer, oversees the day-to-day activities of the District. Joe Ernst provides support to the School Board and the Washoe County School District by managing the Strategic Plan in accordance with established goals.

Tiffany McMaster is the district's Deputy Superintendent.

Schools

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The WCSD currently has 66 elementary schools, a special education school, 16 middle schools, 13 comprehensive high schools, Truckee Meadows Community College High School, Innovations High School (a comprehensive high school of choice), Gerlach K-12, and the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology.

In the WCSD, elementary schools typically include kindergarten through fifth grade, middle schools include sixth grade through eighth grade, and high schools include ninth grade through twelfth grade. The WCSD is currently working to move sixth grade students to middle school and anticipates doing so as soon as three planned new middle schools are constructed.[6]

K-12 schools

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  • Gerlach K-12 School (consolidation of Gerlach High School and Ernest M. Johnson Elementary School)

High schools

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K-8 schools

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Middle schools

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  • B.D. Billinghurst Middle School
  • Coral Academy Middle School
  • Clayton Middle School
  • Cold Springs Middle School
  • Depoali Middle School
  • Dilworth STEM Academy
  • Marce Herz Middle School
  • Incline Middle School
  • Mendive Middle School
  • O'Brien STEM Academy
  • Pine Middle School
  • Yvonne Shaw Middle School
  • Sparks Middle School
  • Darrel C. Swope Middle School
  • Fred W. Traner Middle School
  • Vaughn Middle School
  • Desert Skies Middle School
  • Sky Ranch Middle School

Elementary-schools

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  • Lois Allen
  • Anderson
  • Bud Beasley
  • Jesse Beck
  • Esther Bennett
  • John Bohach
  • Libby C. Booth
  • Brown
  • Rita Cannan
  • Caughlin Ranch
  • Roger Corbett
  • Desert Heights
  • Lloyd Diedrichsen
  • Edwin Dodson
  • Donner Springs
  • Double Diamond
  • Florence Drake
  • Glenn Duncan STEM
  • Katherine Dunn
  • Elmcrest
  • Nancy Gomes
  • Roy Gomm
  • Grace Warner
  • Greenbrae
  • Hidden Valley
  • Huffaker
  • Ted Hunsberger
  • Hunter Lake
  • Jesse Hall
  • Incline
  • Michael Inskeep
  • Lena Juniper
  • Lemelson STEM
  • Lemmon Valley
  • Elizabeth Lenz
  • Lincoln Park
  • Echo Loder
  • Bernice Mathews
  • Alice Maxwell
  • Rollan Melton
  • Robert Mitchell
  • Marvin Moss
  • Natchez
  • Virginia Palmer
  • Peavine
  • Marvin Picollo Special Education School
  • Pleasant Valley
  • Nick Poulakidas
  • JWood Raw
  • Agnes Risley
  • Miguel Sepulveda
  • Silver Lake
  • Alice Smith
  • Kate Smith
  • Smithridge STEM
  • Spanish Springs
  • Stead
  • Sun Valley
  • Alyce Taylor
  • Mamie Towles
  • Edward Van Gorder
  • Verdi
  • Veterans Memorial STEM
  • Westergard
  • Jerry Whitehead
  • Sarah Winnemucca

Circa 2000 Natchez, in Wadsworth, had about 160 students with 94% being Native American.[7] Enrollment remained at the same level as of 2016. The school is on the Paiute Indian Reservation and is the only school in the district that is on a Native American reservation.[8] Holly O'Driscoll of the Nevada Living Magazine described it as "a small, older" facility.[7] In 2017 Siobhan McAndrew of the Reno Gazette Journal stated that historically Natchez had issues with academic performance but by 2017 had a new principal and newly-hired teachers. The district extensively renovated the school in summer 2017, spending $1.5 million to do so.[8]

Future schools

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  • Debbie Smith CTE Academy (opening fall 2025)

School shootings

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2006 Pine Middle School shooting

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The Pine Middle School shooting was a school shooting that occurred in the school district on March 14, 2006.[9] The shooting was perpetrated by then fourteen-year-old student James Scott Newman who shot and injured two 14-year-old eighth grade classmates with a .38-caliber revolver that had belonged to his parents.[9][10] Newman was arrested and charged as an adult on charges of attempted murder, use of a deadly weapon, and use of a firearm by a minor, but later pleaded guilty to different charges of two counts of battery with a deadly weapon, in which he had received sentencing as a juvenile. James Newman was sentenced to house arrest until he completed 200 hours of community service.[11]

On March 25, 2008, athletics teacher Jencie Fagan, who was hailed a hero for her confrontation with the shooter, was selected as one of the three national winners for the Above & Beyond Citizen Honor from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.[12][13]

2013 Sparks Middle School shooting

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A student opened fire at Sparks Middle School, a Washoe County School District school. Two students were critically injured, and a teacher was fatally shot while trying to intervene with the student. The gunman then committed suicide by shooting himself. Students from the school were evacuated and were placed at Sparks High School, where they held until they were picked up by their guardians.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Board of Trustees / Meet the Trustees".
  2. ^ a b c d "District Details". WCSD Statistics. 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  3. ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Washoe County, NV" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 24, 2022. - Text list
  4. ^ "WCSD office of the superintendent: Overview - WCSD website". washoeschools.net. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  5. ^ "WCSD office of the superintendent: About The Superintendent - WCSD website". washoeschools.net. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  6. ^ "WCSD Infrastructure Plan". WCSDbuilding.com. WCSD. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  7. ^ a b O'Driscoll, Holly. "Education: Communties [sic], schools closely linked". Nevada Living Magazine. Reno Gazette-Journal. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  8. ^ a b McAndrew, Siobhan (September 22, 2017). "Knowing Natchez: New principal, new teachers and a remodeled building start a new year for WCSD's only school on an American Indian reservation". Reno Journal Gazette. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Two Hurt in Reno Middle School Shooting". Fox News Channel. March 14, 2006.
  10. ^ Koula Gianulias; Kara Tsuboi; Ed Pearce (March 14, 2006). "Reno School Shooting Team Report". KOLO-TV. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  11. ^ Scott Sonne (May 26, 2006). "Teen Gets House Arrest in Nev. Shooting". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ "Pine Middle School – Directions". Pine Middle School. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
  13. ^ "Edward L. Pine Middle School". National Center for Education Statistics.
  14. ^ Hoffer, Steven (October 21, 2013). "Police Respond To Shooting At Sparks Middle School In Nevada". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  15. ^ "Nevada middle school shooting: 2 killed, 2 injured". CNN. October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  16. ^ "2 dead, 2 boys hurt in Nevada school shooting". The San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  17. ^ McAndrew, Siobhan; Bellisle, Martha; Duggan, Brian (October 21, 2013). "Two dead, two wounded in Nevada middle school shooting". USA Today. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  18. ^ "Sparks Middle School shooting: Video details eyewitness account from inside school". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  19. ^ "Police: Staff Member Killed at Sparks Middle School, 2 Others Hurt". KTVN. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
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