Nevada Connections Academy Las Vegas - Members of Nevada Connections Academy, an online public charter school, walk along the historic railroad on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022 in Boulder City. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
Members of Nevada Connections Academy, an online public charter school, walk along the historic railroad on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022 in Boulder City. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
Nevada Connections Academy Las Vegas
Nevada Connections Academy teacher Emilia Gross, from left, Karina Vernon, mother of students Jordan Vernon, 15, and Taylor Vernon, 17, right, walk with their classmates on the historic railroad Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Boulder City. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
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Students Jayden Zimmerman, 17, left, her friend Alex Zimmerman, 15, center, and their mother, Jennifer Zimmerman, right, pose for a photo with other classmates at Nevada Connections Academy, Nevada Connections Academy, during a hike. Historic Railroad in Boulder City on Thursday, November 17, 2022. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
Nevada Connections Academy teacher Emilia Gross, left, and Paola Anthony, center, chat with the mother of student Silas Anthony, 17, as they walk the historic railroad, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Boulder City. ( Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal ) @rookie__rae
Silas Anthony, 17, a student at Nevada Connections Academy, an online public charter school, takes in the view while hiking with other classmates and their parents on the historic railroad, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Boulder City. (Rachel Aston /Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
Student Alex Zimmerman, 15, walks with his classmates on the historic railroad from Nevada Connections Academy, an online public charter school, as his sister Jayden Zimmerman, 17, right, walks with their mother, Jennifer Zimmerman. Boulder City on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
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Nevada Connections Academy teacher Emilia Gross, center, addresses students and their parents before taking a ride on the historic railroad, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Boulder City. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
Paige Taylor attended traditional private schools, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her to try something new.
"Honestly, when COVID hit, all the schools didn't know what they were doing," said the 17-year-old Henderson resident.
Her older brother is a former student at Nevada Connections Academy — an online tuition-free public charter school that serves students nationwide — so Taylor was already aware of that option. She entered high school as a freshman and is now a junior.
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In 2020, the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority board voted to close the school, but later reversed course after the school filed a lawsuit. Since then, the high school has increased its graduation rate and academic performance.
Now the school is set to go back to the authority on Dec. 16 to seek a charter renewal that would allow it to continue operating.
Nevada Connections Academy received a score of 70 out of a possible 100 on the Nevada School Performance Framework accountability system for the 2021-22 school year. The Norwegian Ministry of Education released the data in September.
"We were thrilled to have these accomplishments and feel like we finally have public testimony and justification for all the hard work we've put in," said Superintendent Chris McBride, a Reno resident who has been the school's leader since November 2017.
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The school's accountability score is up significantly from 13.8 for the high school in 2018-19, when it was a star school — the lowest possible rating. Star ratings have not been released since then due to the pandemic.
The scoring system is based on several factors, including academic achievement, graduation rate, English proficiency, college and career readiness, and student engagement.
Nevada Connections Academy's four-year high school graduation rate also rose from 63.7 percent in 2018-19 to 86.1 percent last school year.
"It doesn't happen quickly," said principal Christine Dzarnoski, who lives in Henderson and has been at the school since 2015 as a fifth-grade teacher. - It's something that happens with time.
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School officials say one of the key factors behind the school's success was the creation of a college and career readiness program. Students have three track options: advanced placement/honors classes, career/technical education classes, and dual credit, where students receive college and college credit at the same time.
The state charter school authority said in a written statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that after the decision to keep the school open in 2020, it has closely monitored the school's performance, including quarterly reports.
"Over the past three years, Nevada Connections Academy has demonstrated significant academic improvement and the progress made was reinforced by results released by the Nevada Department of Education in September," the authority said. "SPSA congratulates all the staff, students and families who have worked incredibly hard to improve skills, graduation rates and college and career readiness at Nevada Connections Academy."
The charter authority previously flagged Nevada Connections Academy, which opened in 2007 and previously served kindergarten through 12th graders, for closure.
Building Foundations For The Next Generation
The school filed a lawsuit in 2016. The following year, the school and the authority reached an agreement setting standards for graduation rates.
The Charter Authority Board voted in January 2020 to deny a charter renewal request that included only the middle school and high school grades.
Nevada Connections Academy and several families filed a lawsuit in Carson City District Court to overturn the decision. It was accused of violating a 2017 agreement with the charter authority that said the school could stay open if it increased graduation rates.
The school's request for a preliminary injunction was granted for the higher secondary school but denied for the secondary school.
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The authority approved a settlement agreement with the school in May 2020, dismissing ongoing litigation and keeping it open under a three-year contract.
While the school doesn't always see eye-to-eye ideologically with the charter authority, McBride said, it is aware and understanding of some of the challenges the authority faces.
"We have a really good relationship with the public charter school authority, and they've been very supportive of our school since the renewal," he said.
McBride said the authority is doing everything it can to ensure the school has what it needs to succeed.
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At Nevada Connections Academy, the elementary and middle schools closed at the end of the 2019-20 school year, meaning it now operates only as a high school. As part of an agreement with the charter authority, the school will enroll only ninth- and 10th-graders, McBride said.
The school is very efficient at graduating students, but it gets easier when students are accepted earlier in their high school years, McBride said.
A long-term goal for the school is to bring back second grade, Dzarnoski said. However, the request did not come before the charter authority's board in December.
The authority wants to see more than one year of success before the school expands to other grades, McBride said.
Career And College Connection
Students come from a variety of backgrounds, Dzarnoski said. Some people work in addition to going to school or are caregivers to their parents, while others have a medical condition that prevents them from personally attending a traditional school, having a baby, or becoming athletes or aspiring actors.
Dzarnoski said some students come from smaller towns across the state, seeking more educational opportunities.
"Some students choose us because they haven't had much success at brick-and-mortar schools, and for many of them, it's their last try," McBride said.
Specialists at the school help students set an individualized routine about when to complete the required number of lessons for the week, Dzarnoski said.
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Taylor said she likes the schedule flexibility. She teaches martial arts for five to six hours a day, seven days a week, so she often does schoolwork after midnight.
She has taken Advanced Placement classes, completed a health science career and technical education program — she wants to be a veterinarian — and enrolled in dual credit classes.
Taylor said she hopes to earn an associate's degree by the time she graduates high school.
She said she likes her classmates to be welcoming and open in their communication. She planned to meet her peers in person during a school-sponsored hike for "National Take a Hike Day" in Boulder City on Thursday.
Nevada State Guide
McBride worked at brick-and-mortar schools before coming to Nevada Connections Academy, but he said he found he had more time to connect with students one-on-one at the online school.
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