Principal Margarita Harris points to an altered “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign on a mural at the newly rebuilt George E. Harris Elementary School Monday, July 26, 2021.
Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021 | 2 a.m.
The air conditioning went out at George E. Harris Elementary School in east Las Vegas on this 100-plus-degree day, making it so unbearable that it interrupted learning.
A month later, the power went out.
And good luck getting reliable internet access across the nearly 50-year-old campus.
When you are trying to educate about 640 young students, such setbacks are disruptive — no power, no school, no learning.
When those setbacks happen regularly, it’s outright disastrous — especially when schools in more affluent areas are unaffected by such decay, Principal Margarita Harris said.
“It’s about access and equity. At some point you have to address the building issues,” Harris said.
That point finally came last year, as Harris was one of five Clark County School District elementary schools pegged for modernization in this cycle of the CCSD 2015 Capital Improvement Program. The bond program, approved in the 2015 Nevada Legislature, provides $4.1 billion over 10 years for construction of new schools and remaking of existing schools, most of which are in older Southern Nevada neighborhoods.
The new 93,000-square-foot Harris Elementary School, which was constructed slightly south of the original structure on Sandhill Road and Twain Avenue, will open next week. It was a $34.5 million project, which included tearing down the old building.
“Everything is new, and everything works,” Principal Harris said.
Some of what’s new will make life easier for the students and staff. For example, the new building comes with 40 bathroom stalls, up from 10 in the old structure. And the design also provides a parking spot for all 88 of the school’s educators, most of whom previously had to jockey for spaces on side streets near the school.
The new multipurpose room will allow for triple the student capacity. That will allow Harris to reduce its number of lunch periods from six to three. The logistics of six lunch sessions previously caused a planning nightmare, as much of the day was spent feeding, cleaning and moving in a new group of students.
The technology is also top of the line, with projectors and surround sound in all 47 classrooms. More important: Reliable air conditioning and internet.
Principal Harris senses the new school will motivate the children to learn and be the best versions of themselves. After previously sitting in mismatched chairs, using tables that were beat up from wear and tear, and having to manage with outdated equipment, they’ll show up next week for the first day of school to a building with all of the bells and whistles of a modern facility. Simply take one step into the school and the new-building smell signals new opportunity.
“This will help them aspire for bigger and better things,” she said.
Harris’ desire to give her students the best is more than a principal advocating for the betterment of the children. For her, it’s personal — this is her community, after all. Like many of the students, she came from a working class, east Las Vegas Latino household.
She is a proud graduate of Sunrise Acres Elementary School near downtown, and one of her grade school class photos sits in a case near the front office.
Harris had a significant voice in the look of the new school, picking its color scheme — the school’s blue and orange, mixed with lime green for a splash of brightness — and coordinating with families to select mural designs.
One mural highlights the school’s diversity with a quote from activist Marcus Garvey, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots,” it reads.
The building’s most significant art project occurred in the new library, where longtime librarian Paula Fernandez-Knight combed yearbooks from each of the school’s nearly 50 years and scanned in nearly 1,000 photos of former students and teachers. The end result was a sharp floor-to-ceiling collage design that helps preserve the school’s history.
The new library has high ceilings, plenty of windows for natural light and is next to a courtyard, which will be utilized for outdoor learning.
“In some ways, it was hard to see the old building go,” said Fernandez-Knight, who has worked at the school since 1991. “This was one way to honor almost 50 years of people.”
George E. Harris arrived in 1929 to teach at Las Vegas High School. He eventually served on the Nevada State Board of Education and was the president of both the Nevada Association of School Administrators and Las Vegas Education Association.
His namesake school “always felt like home because of the sense of community. A lot has changed but the sense of community is the same,” Fernandez-Knight said.
Among the most notable members of that community are Oscar and Carolyn Goodman, each of whom before becoming mayor of Las Vegas, served on the school’s parent–teacher association and sent each of their four children to the campus.
When Carolyn Goodman opened The Meadows School in 1984 in Summerlin, she brought many staffers from Harris with her, including the principal.
Principal Harris is determined to make sure the community gets to cherish the new construction. When teachers report for duty this week, the Mariachi performers from nearby Chaparral High School will greet them with a performance. When students return, the Chaparral band is on tap to perform.
Many of those Chaparral students once attended Harris Elementary. They are just like Principal Harris, who proudly says, “I’m an eastside girl.”
Other CCSD schools being rebuilt include: William E. Ferron Elementary, Myrtle Tate Elementary and Mabel Hoggard Elementary in Las Vegas, and Sandy Valley Elementary in Sandy Valley. Also, two new schools built with bond money will debut this month, Hannah Marie Brown Elementary School in Henderson, and Barry and June Gunderson Middle School in Mountain’s Edge.
