The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Math. The lowest is 56% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Strong Start Academy
Strong Start Academy is a state-sponsored charter school in downtown Las Vegas, serving kindergarten through third grade. It sits on South 9th Street in the 89101 zip code, an area where home values run well below both the Nevada and national benchmarks, and rents sit at the modest end of the regional spectrum. Home values in this zip code have eased slightly over the past year while rents have ticked up by a small margin. For families thinking about where they can afford to live while accessing this school, the neighborhood represents one of the more attainable housing markets in the Las Vegas metro.
The school is small, with an enrollment that fits its early-elementary focus. Kindergarten and first grade carry the largest share of students, while second and third grades are considerably smaller. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a sizable Black enrollment and smaller multiracial, White, and Asian representations. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty context.
Academically, Strong Start posts solid proficiency results on Nevada's SBAC assessments. In math, well over half of tested students reached proficiency, and in English language arts, a similar share cleared that bar. Participation was near-universal among tested students. These are genuinely strong results for a school where the entire student body is economically disadvantaged, and they suggest the school is delivering on early-literacy and numeracy instruction. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results reflect steady performance or a recent shift. Average scale scores were also missing from the state's reporting.
Because Strong Start serves only kindergarten through third grade, certain data points that parents often look for simply do not apply. There is no graduation rate, no high school course catalog, no AP or dual-credit pathway. State testing begins in third grade, so only the school's oldest students sit for the SBAC, meaning the proficiency figures reflect just a slice of the full enrollment rather than the whole school.
Several pieces of information that would round out the picture are absent. The school's IEP and English-learner rates were not reported, so families cannot see what share of students receive special-education services or language support. No civil-rights data, discipline records, staffing figures, or attendance information were provided. No locale brief was available for the immediate neighborhood. A parent may want to look into these areas directly with the school before making a decision.
Strong Start operates under the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority, which has been expanding its footprint. Publicly reported information from the authority indicates it has opened a substantial number of new charter campuses across Nevada, including several in the Las Vegas area. The authority also notes that at least one Las Vegas charter school closed after its first year, a reminder that charter availability can shift. For the coming school year, additional charter options are slated to open in Las Vegas, including schools serving middle and high school grades, which could matter for Strong Start families thinking ahead about where their children go after third grade.
For a family seeking a small, early-elementary charter in central Las Vegas, Strong Start offers a focused environment with academic results that outpace what its poverty rate might predict. The main question for parents is the transition plan for fourth grade and beyond, since the school's grade band ends at third. The gaps in available data, particularly around special populations and school climate, are worth raising with school leadership.
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