Group plans charter school

A new elementary school will replace a dome house on a large North Las Vegas lot, with Bouma Construction expected to proceed from groundbreaking to school opening in about 18 weeks.

The 100 Academy of Excellence charter school is a project that began with discussions during the summer of 2004. The name is derived from the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas, a group founded by Larry Mosley and dedicated to improving the quality of life for young people through a stable learning environment.

Located at 2341 Comstock Drive, between Carey Avenue and West Lake Mead Boulevard, the school will offer classes for up to 400 children, from kindergarten to fifth grade, with a second phase planned that will add a middle school.

An application for the school was unanimously approved by the Clark County School Board in early April.

Tami Bass, president of the academy's board, said the school will offer an alternative to traditional education and include the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas' mentoring program.

At the same time, Imagine Schools has contracted to operate the facility, said Bass, and can lend its nationwide experience to the effort to provide a quality education. Based in Arlington, Va., Imagine Schools operates schools in nine states and the District of Columbia and is developing them in seven more states. Overall, the corporation is educating about 20,000 pupils, from kindergarten to high school.

Such publicly funded charter schools are granted a high degree of operating autonomy.

"This is all smiles for me," academy board secretary-treasurer Ted Watkins said during the academy's April 18 groundbreaking ceremony. "This has been a permanent, lifelong dream for me."

Watkins, also president of 100 Black Men of Las Vegas, recalled his upbringing in Chester, Pa., where blacks made up the majority of residents. He said the school represents a chance for him to put something back into the area that has become his home.

"The work we do is for the community in general," Watkins said.

Students will be enrolled mostly from the area surrounding the school, and enrollment has already begun.

Watkins told the audience of several dozen that much of the credit for the successful effort to win permission for the school must go to Enos Baker, who acted as liaison between the academy supporters, the Clark County School District and the state Department of Education.

"Enos worked so hard when the rest of us could not be there," Watkins said.

Juan Henderson, from Troy, Ala., has been named founding principal of the academy. Henderson is a former assistant principal at the nearby West Middle School and at May Elementary School in northwest Las Vegas.

Among a blizzard of black and yellow balloons, Bass told the audience members they were sitting in a historic place at a historic moment. Long after those in attendance are dead and gone, she said, the impact of the school's effort will remain.

"Education is what distinguishes us," she said.

Vickie Frazier-Williams, Imagine Schools' vice president for the Nevada region, joked that she had devoted herself so thoroughly to the project, "They started to call me Vegas Vickie in the company."

She praised resident Ken Williams for locating and helping to secure the property on which the school will be put up.

Mosley remarked, "This makes our hearts feel good, to see a vision become a reality."

Walt Ruffles, Clark County school superintendent, also was on hand and told the attendees, "We'll see the grace of God's land here turn into the magic of God's children."

Henderson said students, staff and parents will find that he'll make himself available.

"I'll have an open door policy -- whenever the door's put up," he said.

Henderson said he expects an initial enrollment of about 325 students, with 13 teachers and seven other staff members. When middle school classes are permitted, as many as 600 students could be enrolled.

Also on the academy board are Bronwyn Richards, vice president, and Danielle Toney and Yasmin Stampley.

Tami Belt, representing Hands Ink Advertising, said students will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

"A lottery will be held if there are more students applying than there are seats," she said. "They are currently accepting enrollments."