School type Public high school Grades 9–12 School color(s) Black & red Founded 1905 | Principal Debbie Brockett Enrollment 2,973 Phone +1 702-799-0180 Number of students 2,973 | |
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Similar Rancho High School, Eldorado High School, Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, Green Valley High School, Valley High School | ||
Las Vegas High School is a public high school in unincorporated Sunrise Manor, Nevada, part of the Clark County School District. It is the oldest high school in Las Vegas and originally opened 112 years ago in 1905 on what was then the outskirts of town. The schools first campus was made a permanent location in 1904 with a tent that opened in 1905. After 29 years the school made a new campus in 1930 that opened 1931 after 62 years the school moved to a new campus in 1993, along the foothills of Frenchman Mountain.
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History
Las Vegas High School's original campus was constructed a tent near the cottonwoods near north Creek of town for the 1905 school year Las Vegas High was the first high school in Las Vegas, but caused much controversy at the time for its location. In the early 40's, the High School was considered to be quite distant from the rest of the town and was a commute for some students. The school originally had three buildings, the tri-level Main building on the corner of 7th and Bridger, the Gymnasium, and a third building that originally housed wood shops and vocational classes, and later government classes. It was torn down in 1969. Las Vegas High School is now a landmark in Las Vegas for it represents the best of the Art-Deco Style Architecture of the 1930s, that still stands in the city. The school's outer appearance has been maintained but the interior has been changed quite a bit since the original construction in the 1930s. Lieutenant William Harrell Nellis, for whom Nellis Air Force Base is named, graduated from Las Vegas High School.
During the late 1980s, the school district decided to build a new larger campus on the east side of Clark County. The original buildings that were Las Vegas High School are now the home to the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing, and Visual Arts, which opened in 1993.
Athletics
Las Vegas High School's athletics teams are known as the Wildcats and participate in the Northeast Division of the Sunrise 4A Region. The Wildcats athletics programs are some of the best in the state and have won numerous championships. This includes several in football, including the 1944 team which went all eight games without giving up a single point. The football team also has two historic rivalries, the Battle of Sunrise Mountain against Eldorado High School, which began in 1993 (and coined by a former 1985 graduate of Eldorado High School) and the Bone Game against Rancho High School, the latter of which is the oldest football rivalry in the state of Nevada. Las Vegas has won 20 consecutive games against Rancho, dating back to 1996.