Flat Kick Balls and Bent Hula Hoops: Opening a New Charter School in the Back Rooms

S

tarting a new school is challenging. But to put

classrooms and an office in the back rooms of a

building, share public toilets, and be content with

a gravel-filled “playground” was a learning experience

for both the staff and students of a new Charter school

in the Las Vegas desert. Things got even worse when

one of the classrooms was reclaimed by the landlord

and the office had to relocate to part of the singlewide

portable building. The phones wouldn’t work, the

keys were wrong, the lunchroom was reclaimed, the

kick balls went flat and the hula hoops were bent out

of shape.

The new campus had mice, and incomplete kitchen,

not enough storage, a weird security system, more

phone problems and orange pictures. Through it all,

the students took everything in stride.