Builders support Southern Nevada Trades High School

Training a skilled labor force to supply the human resources required by Southern Nevada homebuilders has become an urgent need in recent years.

In response to industry demand, the Southern Nevada Trades High School opened its doors in August 2023. The new public charter school is available to all students within Clark County.

The school is located at 1580 Bledsoe Lane in eastern Las Vegas, with its main entrance opening onto Owens Avenue. The school has been built on the site of a former church. The original stained-glass windows have been preserved and the church buildings have been renovated into the design of an educational campus.

Southern Nevada Trades High School was one of the last development projects championed by Nat Hodgson, former CEO of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, before he unexpectedly died in October 2023. Planning and development of the public charter school took four years from conception to construction, staffing and enrollment.

“Back in the old days, when I went to school, there was a woodshop, auto mechanics, welding and woodworking,” said Hodgson during the initial opening of the trade high school’s doors in August 2023. “There’s hardly any of that anymore.”

Executive Director Julie Carver and Principal Candi Wadsworth at SNTHS hope to ignite a passion for learning within their students through innovative career and technical training programs that are aligned with academics and community partnerships. Students are encouraged to develop crucial life skills for critical thinking, communication and teamwork.

Administrators, faculty and supporters have based their educational development model for the Southern Nevada Trades High School on lessons learned from the Academy for Career Education in Reno, Nevada.

Founded in 2002, ACE High School is now rated as a five-star public charter school with a 90 percent graduation rate. ACE High School has developed a successful track record for supplying skilled construction professionals to industries in Northern Nevada.

The Southern Nevada Trades High School began its inaugural school year in August 2023 with about 85 students enrolled in the ninth and 10th grades. Applicants were registered from diverse regions within Clark County.

Eleventh grade classes were added during the 2024 academic year as students advanced, and current enrollment has increased to 200 students during the new academic year. A 12th-grade class will begin in late 2025 with total school capacity expected to reach 400 students.

Each level of studies will feature core educational curriculum that is standard for other high schools within Clark County, as well as additional elective programs developed by the National Center for Construction Education and Research.

Trade-related training programs introduced during the first academic year have included basic measuring systems, blueprint drawing skills, design techniques for small-scale projects and hands-on construction skills.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, teams of SNTHS students built an altar for an El Dia de Los Muertos celebration, as well as bird houses, chess sets and individual construction projects of their own conceptions.

During January 2025, the high school introduced large-scale elective projects that study hands-on design and construction of utility sheds. After the projects are completed in June 2025, the tool and storage sheds will be auctioned to the general public to raise funds for future development goals.

SNTHS students will have opportunities to work as interns within the construction industry each summer, as well as attend ongoing career fairs and construction-site field trips during the school year.

The Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and the Nevada Subcontractors Association hope to provide student interns with useful job experiences, as well as structured feedback and performance reviews.

Partnerships with local builders and subcontractors can provide opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials and post-secondary school credit. The goal of the community-oriented program is to prepare SNTHS students for immediate success within these industries upon graduation.

The charter school programs will point the way to continuous educational opportunities at local two-year and four-year college institutions, that will help graduates develop sustainable career paths.

“The board of directors for the Southern Nevada Trades High School is composed of a 50/50 mix of homebuilders and subcontractors, as well as a lawyer and a CPA,” said Carver, who oversees fundraising and operations.

The new public charter school has raised more than $3 million toward construction and operations, with half of the money coming from the Federal Charter Schools Program, and matching funds provided by the local Southern Nevada community.

Industry donors included the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association, Nevada Subcontractors Association, Southern Nevada International Code Council, Commission of Construction Education, Lennar Foundation, Pulte Group, Toll Brothers, Tri Pointe Homes, Woodside Homes, Beazer Homes, Howard Hughes Corp., SonRay Construction, Silverlake Construction, WestCor, Battle Born Specialties and ABG Builders.

Funding from building trades and supply chain companies included Mitsubishi, Cashman Equipment Co., Builders FirstSource, Sierra Air, Roberston’s Ready Mix, Rightway Drywall &Paint, Rew Materials, JMAC Plumbing and AC, Nevada Stairs, Patriot Framing, Power House Plaster, Red Rock Insulation, ISI Design and Installation Solutions, Hearth &Home Specialties, Frazee Paint, Gothic Landscaping, Enix Mechanical, Edgewater Custom Pools &Landscaping, Classic Door &Trim, Closets Las Vegas, Desert Concrete, Coronado Concrete, Cooper Roofing and Solar, Avanti Windows &Doors, Alpha Landscape, ACM Services. Storage One, Southern Nevada Concrete and Aggregates Association, KTGY Architecture Group, Hirschi Cos. and Distinctive Insurance.

Educational and nonprofit funding organizations included Google, Opportunity 180, World Wide Safety, Jennifer L Page Foundation and private donors. To learn more about the Southern Nevada Trades High School, visit the organization’s website at snvtradeshighschool.org