Education Notebook: School news and events for June 18-24, 2015

FALL SAFEKEY REGISTRATION TO OPEN JULY 27

Registration for fall 2015 Safekey is set to open at 7 a.m. July 27 at the Safekey main office, 416 N. Seventh St.

Office hours for registration are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Registration is $20 per child’s account, per school year and $7 for a morning pass and $10 for an afternoon pass.

Payments can be made at recreation.lasvegasnevada.gov, by calling 702-229-3399 or in person at the office. The program is a prepaid service. Financial assistance may be available for qualifying families. Hours vary

per site, and not all sites offer a morning program.

For more information, call 702-229-3399.

SUPPLY DRIVE TO BENEFIT RONNOW ELEMENTARY

Matt Smith Physical Therapy and Desert Valley Therapy are hosting a school supply drive June 15-26 to benefit Ronnow Elementary School, 1100 Lena St. The public is invited to drop off supplies at any of the Matt Smith Physical Therapy or Desert Valley Therapy locations. Suggested supplies are backpacks, paper, pencils, crayons, washable markers, scissors, erasers, glue sticks, tissue, colored pencils, pocket folders, rulers or binders.

Ronnow is a Title 1 campus, which means at least 40 percent of its students come from low-income families.

For more information, call 702-256-9738. For locations, visit mattsmithpt.com or desertvalleytherapy.com.

TATE ELEMENTARY RECEIVES GRAND PRIZE FROM FIRE UP YOUR FEET COMPETITION

Tate Elementary School, 2450 Lincoln Road, placed first among Clark County schools for the highest participation in its first Fire Up Your Feet Challenge.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership celebrated the importance of staying active with the grand prize check presentation to Tate June 4. The party marked the end of the challenge, which encouraged Clark County School District kindergarten through eighth-grade students to be more physically active during an 11-week period. More than 4,000 kids at schools throughout the school district participated in the challenge.

Other top finishers were: Galloway Elementary, second place; Dailey Elementary, second place; Mack Elementary, second place; Gray Elementary, third place; Culley Elementary, third place; McWilliams Elementary, third place; Pinecrest Academy-Nevada, third place; and Lied Middle School, third place.

CORAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE WINS $100,000 AWARD

The Rogers Foundation has awarded $100,000 to the Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas. The school received the foundation’s first Gift of Innovation Award.

“Seeing the students’ excitement — and knowing we’ll be able to do more during the 2015-16 school year than ever before — is just a wonderful way to start the summer,” said Noah Stevens, dean of students at the school. “The funds will be used to fund numerous STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs, ranging from competitions to camps to providing tutors and much more.”

Grant recipients were selected after an application process, in which each school or program was asked to request an amount, up to $100,000, to support an educational or arts-related initiative. The foundation received 109 applications, and a committee selected the winners based on the strength of the proposal, planned program and usage, and impact on Southern Nevada arts and education.

Coral’s application was written by parents Pamela Lum, Lauren Tran and Lata Suvvari, as well as the school’s award-winning mathematics instructor Hikmet Erdogan and Dr. Arthur Baragara, a mathematics professor at UNLV.

For more information about the school, visit caslv.org. For more on the foundation, visit therogers.foundation.

BUSINESS DONATES COMPUTERS TO LOCAL SCHOOLS

TELUS International donated more than 100 computers to several schools, including My Brother’s Keeper and Downtown Achieves program schools, June 4.

The donation presentation was held at Kelly Elementary School, 1900 N. J St.

Other schools scheduled to receive computers were: Vegas Verde, Booker, Fyfe, Twin Lakes and Lake elementary schools and Valley High School.

ALEXANDER DAWSON SCHOOL BREAKS GROUND ON NEW CENTER

The Alexander Dawson School, 10845 W. Desert Inn Road, hosted a groundbreaking event June 8 for its new Organic Food and Learning Center, which, when completed, will feature extensive organic garden spaces.

Construction is scheduled to be completed in February 2016. The Ruffin Organic Food and Learning Initiative is an innovative project where Dawson students will harvest their own fruits and vegetables in on-site gardens and orchards located throughout Dawson’s 33-acre campus. There will be indoor-outdoor learning spaces, as well as a state-of-the-art building that adheres to the most advanced measures of sustainability, as determined by the Living Building Challenge program sponsored by the International Living Future Institute.

The project was inspired by Oleksandra Ruffin, the mother of a Dawson student.

“Nothing is more important to our children’s health than good nutrition,” she said. “My husband and I are so happy to be able to provide this wonderful garden for children to experience. It will be a place of discovery for the children to play and learn about food and healthy living.”

LGA, a local architecture firm, is a collaborative partner in the project.

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY OF NEVADA ENROLLING STUDENTS

The Leadership Academy of Nevada is expanding and has added a limited number of seats for the 2015-16 school year. It focuses on developing principled leaders through delivery of a liberal arts education using cutting-edge technology. It offers instruction to students in grades six through 12 throughout the state.

Regularly scheduled enrollment information meetings are held online and in Las Vegas so parents and students can learn more.

For meeting dates, times and locations, visit lanv.org.

SPARK! POETRY WRITING & RECITATION COMPETITION TAKING ENTRIES

Clark County high school students are invited to submit original poems for the Vegas Valley Book Festival’s Spark! Poetry Writing & Recitation Competition. Modeled after the national Poetry Out Loud competition and the Scholastic Writing competition, the contest will have students reciting their poetry during the book festival that is scheduled for Oct. 17.

The first-place prize is $300, second place is $200 and third place is $100. Students are asked to present three original poems to be judged by a panel consisting of poets, authors, educators and other community members. Panelists will use scoring guidelines to assign numerical values to the evaluation criteria.

Three presentation rounds are planned. Students who register through Sept. 30 will be eligible to present one poem in the first round. The top six will present in the second round, and the top three in the third round will determine first, second and third place. Scores will be cumulative. Students must present the poems they submitted on their registration form.

For guidelines and a registration form, visit vegasvalleybookfestival.org. For more information, contact Maryjane Dorofachuk, Nevada Arts Council arts learning coordinator, at 702-486-3738 or mdorofachuk@nevadaculture.org.

LIBRARY TO HOST MONEY SMART CAMP FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

The camp program Money Smart Middle Schoolers is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. June 22 and 29 at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave.

Co-sponsored by Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada, the camp will teach students in sixth through eighth grades about money and budgeting.

Registration is required, but the camp is free. For more information, call 702-507-3631.

WET’N’WILD GIVING FREE ADMISSION FOR STRAIGHT-A STUDENTS, SENIORS

Wet’n’Wild Las Vegas, 7055 S. Fort Apache Road, is offering free admission for straight-A students and seniors 65 or older. Students can take advantage of the offer throughout the 2015 season, while the offer is good for seniors through June. Seniors must bring their Nevada driver’s license or government-issued ID, while students are asked to present their report card at the ticket window.

For more information, visit wetnwildlasvegas.com.

THE VENETIAN, PALAZZO OFFER SPECIAL RATES FOR EDUCATORS

The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and the Palazzo, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, are offering special rates in June to educators from Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona, starting at $99 per night, plus tax and fees.

Mention the code EVEDUOF for The Venetian and EPEDUOF for the Palazzo when booking. Guests are required to present valid teacher identification at check-in from one of the qualifying states.

For reservations, call 866-659-9643.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING SET FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

Partners in Policymaking plans to offer leadership training for people with developmental disabilities, parents and family members. The training is designed to teach the power of advocacy and change the way people with disabilities are supported, viewed, taught, live and work. The program will provide information about issues and policies related to disability and develop participant competencies to become more effective in influencing policy development at all levels.

Parents of children with developmental disabilities and adults with developmental disabilities are encouraged to apply. Classes are planned from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. once a month through August at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Lifelong Learning Center, 8050 Paradise Road. Participants are expected to commit to all classes or complete makeup assignments. Remaining dates are: June 20, July 19 (in Reno) and Aug. 15. Participants will receive a stipend to help with child care and transportation costs.

For more information or to apply, visit nced.info/pip.