Westside School ~ Las Vegas, Nevada
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 36° 10.867 W 115° 08.774
11S E 666701 N 4005629
The Westside School, at 330 W Washington Avenue in Las Vegas, closed in 1967 and is now the home of FM radio station KCEP.
Waymark Code: WMFMQM
Location: Nevada, United States
Date Posted: 11/04/2012
Views: 8
The historical marker (stop 12 on the Las Vegas Pioneer Trail self-guided tour) on the south side of the historic school building reads:
Westside School
1923
The first school in West Las Vegas opened with two rooms and two teachers for four grades.
From 1904 until 1923, children from McWilliams' Townsite crossed the railroad tracks to get to school in Clark's Townsite. This dangerous situation lasted until the Las Vegas School District built this two-room school on land in the new Valley View addition, adjoining McWillams' Townsite on the east.
The school quickly expanded with two more rooms in 1928 when news of the construction of Hoover Dam brought families from the south searching for work. A kindergarten was added in 1938, and in 1942 a small building from the Civilian Conservation Corps camp was moved to the site to house third and fourth grades. Fifth grade was added in 1947. Finally, in 1948, a concrete block addition with eight classrooms was built next to the original school building to house sixth, seventh and eight grades. In May 1949, twenty-seven students graduated in the first eight grade commencement class.
New neighborhoods and schools to serve them came quickly in the 1950s. The Westside School, was phased out for school use in 1967, and became city property in 1974. Shortly thereafter, the city leased the building to the Economic Opportunity Board (EOB) as a community center and radio station.