Principal Ryan Cordia, right, receives the School Administrator of the Year award from Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara at Southeast Career Technical Academy Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.
Friday, Aug. 26, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Southeast Career and Technical Academy has a 100% graduation rate and this year’s top national honor from the Magnet Schools of America.
By one account, it also had the best principal in the Clark County School District in Ryan Cordia.
Representatives from CCSD and the Las Vegas-based Public Education Foundation, which together honor CCSD’s employees of the year, surprised Cordia on Aug. 19 with the honor for his work last school year.
“Your numbers speak for themselves,” Public Education Foundation Chief Executive Officer Rich Broome told Cordia. “We’re going to be very honored to honor you at our gala.”
Cordia transferred this fall to the still-under construction career and technical academy in the northeast part of town, preparing it for its opening day next year. His heart is still strongly with SECTA though, where 10 of his 12 years with the district have been spent.
His own children grew up in its halls, he said. He still visits — that was how colleagues were able to get him there to present him with an oversized certificate.
At SECTA, 81% of students graduated last year with both high school and college credits, and 74% graduated with on-the-job experience in their “majors,” which are as diverse as auto repair, culinary arts, photography and cosmetology.
It was named the best magnet school in the nation by Magnet Schools of America, besting more than 400 schools across the country for the Dr. Ronald P. Simpson Magnet School of Merit Award of Excellence, Magnet Schools of America’s most prestigious award.
Cordia said his honor also recognized his colleagues at the recently rebuilt 55-year-old school, which was CCSD’s first vocational school.
“They are the best of the valley,” he said.
The annual awards, which honor a teacher, support staffer, school-based administrator and central office administrator, are in their second year. Recipients will be feted Sept. 9 at the Public Education Foundation’s Golden Apple gala at Caesars Palace.
Other winners include:
• Teacher of the year: Jeremy Lawson, who teaches geoscience at Desert Pines High School. He has worked for CCSD for seven years and is a second-generation CCSD educator — his mother, Lori Lawson Sarabyn, recently retired as the principal of Cimarron-Memorial High School. Lawson is involved in Desert Pines’ student mentorship program and will “adopt” 20 students at a time, attending their school events and bringing in their favorite snacks on game days.
• Support professional of the year: Mario Galvez, the site-based computer technician at Palo Verde High School. He has been with CCSD for three years and previously worked at Brinley Middle School. His nomination paid tribute to his “rockstar” service and “going out of his way to help solve problems.”
• Central administrator of the year: Sheri McPartlin, chief nurse, Health Services. McPartlin played a key role in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic for CCSD by creating and operating the COVID-19 Hotline, implementing and facilitating COVID-19 testing procedures, and working with community stakeholders to provide students with tele-health services allowing for access to mental and physical health resources in a time of critical need, according to her nomination.
