Gerlach K–12 School

Gerlach K-12 School is a public K-12 school in Gerlach, Nevada. A part of the Washoe County School District, its attendance boundary includes Gerlach and Empire.[1]

It is about 110 miles (180 km) north of Reno.[2]

It includes a branch of the Washoe County Library System.[3]

History

The facility was previously Gerlach High School, a grade 6-12 school as of 2001.[4][5] It opened in 1931, and got a new building in 1955 as the original building was destroyed by a fire.[6] The fire occurred in January 1955.[7] In the 1970s, the school's grade spread was 5-12 and it had a teacher-student ratio at 1 to 9. By 1976, the school consolidated all grade levels in a single building to have more efficient use of employees, as the area population had declined.[2] It was renovated circa the late 1990s.[3]

Ernest M. Johnson Elementary School, initially an elementary school in Empire, moved to the Gerlach High site in Gerlach in 2001.[8] By 2000, the school's address was already in Gerlach.[9] It was to be housed in an eight classroom wing attached to the high school facility that was to open in fall 2002.[3]

Johnson became a K-12 school in 2011.[10]

Student body

Prior to fall 2000, enrollment was at 125 for the entire K-12 facility, with 55 students at Johnson Elementary and 70 students at Gerlach High. By that time, the schools had one aide for English as a second language (ESL) purposes as an increasing number of students had that classification. The students were children of employees at Empire Farms and U.S. Gypsum.[3] At one point, enrollment was 80, and there were 20 employees. By 2016, U.S. Gypsum had curtailed operations, and enrollment was down to eight with three full-time employees along with some part-time employees.[11]

There are different ethnic groups among the student body, majority are whites followed by Hispanic/Latino.[12]

Operations

Washoe County Public Schools maintains faculty housing through mobile homes in a way to retain staff.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Gerlach K-12 School". Washoe County School District. Retrieved March 20, 2021. Welcome to the Gerlach K-12 School! [...] serving the communities of Gerlach and Empire.
  2. ^ a b Payments in Lieu of Taxes: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session on H.R. 9719. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1976. p. 133.
  3. ^ a b c d e O'Driscoll, Holly. "Education: Communties [sic], schools closely linked". Nevada Living Magazine. Reno Gazette-Journal. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "High Schools". Washoe County School District. April 24, 2001. Archived from the original on April 24, 2001. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  5. ^ "Gerlach K-12 Schools". Visit Gerlach. July 30, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  6. ^ "A History of Schools" (PDF). Washoe County School District. p. 195. Retrieved March 19, 2021. - The document states the fire occurred in 1954 but this is contradicted by the newspaper article.
  7. ^ "Gerlach's Only School Building is Destroyed by Early Morning Fire". Nevada State Journal. January 12, 1955. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  8. ^ "A History of Schools" (PDF). Washoe County School District. p. 81. Retrieved March 19, 2021. - Despite the statement about the Gerlach campus opening in 2003, it states the addition was built in 2001 and the Johnson School address changed to Gerlach, NV by 2001
  9. ^ "Elementary Schools". Washoe County School District. August 23, 2000. Archived from the original on August 23, 2000. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  10. ^ "A History of Schools" (PDF). Washoe County School District. p. 237. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  11. ^ Kane, Jenny (June 3, 2016). "SOLD: $11.38M quasi-ghost town in Burning Man's backyard". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  12. ^ "Gerlach K-12". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved October 4, 2021.

40°39′12″N 119°21′13″W / 40.6532°N 119.3536°W / 40.6532; -119.3536


Stub icon

This Nevada school-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.