Westside Schools
An Introduction
In 1904 J.T. McWilliams acquired an 80 acre government track adjoining the Stewart Ranch on the west side, and began selling lots in the unofficial “Las Vegas”. Located between Bonanza Road, Washington, “A,” and “H” Streets the area became known as the Westside. In May of 1905 an auction was held to establish the Las Vegas townsite, east of the established Westside. Westside students attended school outside their community until 1923 when the first neighborhood school was built known as the Las Vegas Grammar School Branch No.1, commonly called the Westside School.
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By the 1920’s and 30’s the Westside had become populated by a diverse ethnic group. Because of World War II activities in the Las Vegas Valley, greater numbers of black families moved into the area, most of whom made their homes in the Westside. Development of a ghetto area, because of housing patterns, resulted in segregated elementary schools on the Westside. As a result, by 1968 six Westside elementary schools, Kit Carson Elementary, Bonanza Elementary (Hoggard), Madison Elementary (Wendell Williams), Highland Elementary (Kermit Booker Sr.), Matt Kelley Elementary, Jo Mackey Elementary, and C.V.T Gilbert Elementary, had enrollments of more than 95 percent black students.
In the wake of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and United States Supreme Court decisions prohibiting racial segregation in public schools, desegregation lawsuits became numerous. In October 1968, the United States District Court for Nevada ruled that the Las Vegas elementary schools were unlawfully segregated, and the court ordered the school board to submit an integration plan. Voluntary integration programs were put into action in 1969. In 1970 the U.S. District Court ruled that the school district plan had not resulted in integration. The court ordered the district to devise a plan that would desegregate the schools.
On April 8, 1971 the school board approved the Sixth Grade Center Integration Plan which the court accepted. The Sixth Grade Plan created sixth grade centers out of the black elementary schools in Westside Las Vegas. All white students in the sixth grade throughout the valley were bused to one of the Sixth Grade Centers, while all black first through fifth graders were bused to predominately white areas of the valley. The court-ordered plan, with sacrifices made by both black and white families, eventually changed the face of the valley.
This collection was last updated in 2012.
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Westside Schools Tour
Integration
Programs
1923
The Westside School
1953
Mabel Hoggard ES
1953
Wendell Williams ES
1954
Kermit Booker ES
1956
Kit Carson ES
1960
Matt Kelly ES
1961
Quannah McCall ES
1964
Jo Mackey ES
1966
C.V.T. Gilbert ES
1993
H.P. Fitzgerald ES
