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. 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. O'Driscoll, Holly. "Education: Communties [sic], schools closely linked". Nevada Living Magazine. Reno Gazette-Journal. Archived from the original on March 20, 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.

40.6532°N 119.3536°W / 40.6532; -119.3536


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