The top reported proficiency rate is 83% in English language arts. The lowest is 55% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Mccaw Gordon Es
McCaw Gordon Elementary sits on Tin Street in Henderson, Nevada's second-largest city and a core piece of the Las Vegas Valley metro area. The school is part of the Clark County School District, the large system that spreads across the valley. Henderson itself is a primarily residential city built around master-planned communities like Green Valley, Anthem, Inspirada, and MacDonald Ranch. The city grew rapidly over the past two decades through that community-by-community development pattern, and it attracts more advanced industries per capita than the broader region, with logistics, manufacturing, financial services, and sports production anchoring its economy. The Raiders' headquarters and a Google data center campus are among the marquee employers. The built environment is car-dependent suburban sprawl, connected by major highways to Las Vegas, with an extensive trail system and dozens of parks that serve recreation rather than commuting. Schools are distributed across the city rather than concentrated in one core.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and has a sizable enrollment for an elementary campus, with the largest concentrations in the upper elementary grades. Every student at McCaw Gordon qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school firmly in the category of campuses serving a high-poverty community. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with Hispanic students forming the largest single group, followed by White, Black, and multiracial students, with smaller Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native populations. We looked for data on English learners and students with individualized education programs, but those figures were not reported, so we cannot characterize those populations here. The same gap applies to staffing, discipline, attendance, and course access; none of those data sections carried information.
Academic results from the state SBAC assessment are the strongest part of the picture. In English language arts, a large majority of tested students reached proficient or above, a result that stands out well for a school where every student comes from an economically disadvantaged background. Math proficiency is similarly strong, with most tested students clearing the proficiency bar. Science results, drawn from a smaller tested cohort in the upper grades, were more mixed, with just over half of tested students proficient. Participation was high across all three subjects. No multi-year trend data was available, so we cannot say whether these results represent steady improvement, a recent jump, or a plateau; a parent asking about direction over time would need to go to the school directly for that context.
The housing market around the school's zip code tells a practical story for families thinking about living nearby. Home values in the area sit below the Nevada state benchmark but above the national figure, and they have dipped modestly year over year. Rents have edged up slightly. The estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home in this zip code runs well above typical rent, which means renting is meaningfully cheaper than buying at current interest rates. The price-to-income ratio for the area is above the national midpoint, so ownership stretches household budgets more here than in many parts of the country. For a family already renting in the area, the school's academic performance makes it a serious option worth considering. For a family weighing a move specifically for the school, the cost of ownership relative to incomes is a factor to weigh.
We searched for recent parent-relevant changes in the Clark County School District, such as policy shifts, curriculum changes, or funding decisions, but the research did not surface any. That does not mean nothing is happening; it means we did not find documented changes that met the threshold for lasting parent impact. A parent with questions about district-level initiatives would do well to check with the district directly.
What McCaw Gordon offers is a strong academic environment in a high-poverty, diverse elementary setting within a suburban city that has grown aggressively and continues to add employers and amenities. The ELA and math proficiency rates are the clearest signal that instruction is working for most students. The science results are softer, and the absence of trend data, subgroup breakdowns, and staffing information leaves some questions a parent may want to bring to the school. For families in the neighborhood, especially those renting, the academic results make this a school worth engaging with seriously.
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