LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Several local leaders were on hand for the opening of Sage Public Charter School on Thursday.
The school moved to a new location less than two months ago from a temporary location.
The school’s principal told 8 News Now parents wanted a new option in the Las Vegas’ westside area.
“65% of the schools in this community, are one and two-star schools,” Sandra Kinne the founder and executive director of Sage Charter School said. “In talking with families, there was a real interest in having some public options here in these zip codes.”
The charter school’s philosophy is to prepare students to attend college.
Each classroom is named after a college or university.
The administration hopes to have 800 students from kindergarten to eighth grade. But currently, there are only 200 children enrolled from kindergarten to fifth grade.
“Families deserve options for their children in a public setting,” Kinne said.
65% of students at Sage qualify for free or reduced school lunches, according to Kinne.
There are several Clark County schools in the area, which is on the west side of the Las Vegas valley, including Wasden, Vegas Verdes, Doris Hancock, and Rex Bell elementary schools.
Yet for Xennia Diaz, Sage’s teacher-to-student ratio, which is 27-to-1, appealed to her.
“I think the biggest challenge with schools in the Las Vegas valley is the extremely high teacher turnover. I think schools are, they’re overcrowded. Teachers are overworked, it’s a revolving door of teachers,” Diaz said.
Diaz says safety concerns played a big part in her decision to choose Sage for her fifth-grade son.
“I feel like kids feel safe when they know every single staff member when it’s a smaller school. In the larger schools in CCSD, there are staff members you’ve never seen before,” Diaz said.
Sage is currently taking applications for students to enroll, but there is a waiting list for its third-grade classrooms.
On Saturday, the Nevada School Choice Coalition is hosting a school choice fair at IPEC Las Vegas from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sage Collegiate Public Charter School is located on Charleston Blvd near Valley View Blvd.