Latin Chamber to partner with Nevada State High School on new charter school

The Latin Chamber of Commerce, along with the Nevada State High School, on Monday announced the opening of a charter school that will offer high school students the chance to earn free college credits.

Peter Guzman, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, said the space upstairs at the chamber office at 300 North 13th Street was unoccupied, which he said gives the organization the opportunity to bridge the gap between business and education.

The funding comes from the state’s charter school program.

“Today we no longer have empty space. We have classrooms, we have energy, we have things going on that are just so good for our community,” Guzman said.

Wendi Hawk, chief academic officer of the Nevada State High School, a college preparatory charter school, said the school has been in the works since earlier this year.

“We are basically the parents of 350 to 400 kids. We pay for the college tuition, to attend real college classes with real college professors in a real college environment, and we help and support them,” she said.

Under this program, the charter school will pay for students to take college-level classes. The students will take also weekly lessons to learn study skills.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman, U.S. Rep. Joe Heck and City Councilman Ricki Barlow also commended the addition of the charter school, which has locations in Henderson and Summerlin.

Toward the end of a press conference to make the announcement, Guzman announced that Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman Steve Wynn and his wife, Andrea Hissom, would support the charter school financially through any shortfalls.

Hawk expects to have about 50 students for the first fall semester, she added. The charter school will follow colleges and universities schedules, and students who are in their final two years of high school with a grade point average of 2.0 or above can attend, but students whose GPAs fall below the standard may be able to enroll.

“As long as they can get a college schedule, we’ll take’em,” she said.

At the charter school, students will be able to attend two-hour long sessions twice a week to learn study skills. Currently, there is only one classroom session scheduled, but that will change as students begin to enroll. Hawk said they had about 350 students last school year, and they hope to add about a hundred more with the new location.

“We just give them the credits, we give them the pathway and they choose which direction they want to go,” she said.

Contact Melissa Gomez at mgomez@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0278. Follow @melissagomez004 on Twitter.