Las Vegas is getting a big new elementary school in Skye Canyon, after the City Council on Sunday approved the Clark County School District's plan for a two-building campus in the master-planned community. The school is designed to serve roughly 850 students and will feature dozens of classrooms plus outdoor play areas. District officials say they expect construction to begin over the summer, with a goal of opening the campus by the start of the 2027–28 school year.
Design and planning documents show the campus will sit on roughly 11.85 acres near West Skye Canyon Park Drive and Shaumber Road and include 55 permanent classrooms; with up to eight portable units, the total classroom count could reach 63, according to planning materials. As reported by NVBEX, the two buildings will also include play courts, synthetic turf fields and four access drives off Shaumber Road to separate bus routes from parent drop-offs. A procurement posting reviewed by Construction Bid Source lists the project at about 105,000 square feet, designed to accommodate 850 students.
Why Skye Canyon?
Skye Canyon has been one of the few parts of the valley where school enrollment is actually climbing. Divich Elementary recorded about a 9 percent jump in enrollment in 2023–24, a spike that helped make the case for a new campus in the neighborhood. That trend, along with planned housing in the master-planned community, is why the district prioritized a Skye Canyon school site, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Budget and timing
The vote comes as CCSD wrestles with a roughly $50 million budget shortfall tied largely to declining enrollment, Superintendent Jhone Ebert told FOX5. Board trustees are scheduled to discuss the next rounds of new construction on March 4, and district officials told 8 News Now that moving forward in growing neighborhoods is part of a broader strategy to balance shrinking enrollment in urban cores with pockets of growth on the outskirts.
At the Las Vegas City Council meeting, some members and residents zeroed in on the campus' size. One council member was recorded saying, "Oh my god, that's a huge elementary," according to 8 News Now. City staffers told planners the site will include about 136 parking spaces, pickup and drop-off lanes and separate bus access, details laid out in the city's packet as reported by NVBEX.
Next steps include finalizing construction contracts and working through school-boundary discussions. Families in the area can expect CCSD to announce staffing plans and enrollment boundaries as the project advances. Trustees' decisions on March 4 will help shape the district's construction roadmap, and officials say grading and mobilization could begin this summer if bids and funding clear.
