The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in English language arts. The lowest is 53% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Vanderburg John Es
Vanderburg John Elementary sits on Desert Shadow Trail in Henderson, Nevada, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Clark County School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, drawing from the surrounding residential neighborhoods of one of the Las Vegas Valley's primary suburban cities.
The academic results from the most recent state assessments are a clear strength. In English language arts, the proficiency rate among tested students in grades three through five stands well above what most Nevada elementary schools post. Mathematics performance is similarly strong, with a solid majority of tested students reaching proficiency. Science results, drawn from a smaller tested group, are more moderate, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how science instruction is sequenced across the upper grades. Participation rates are high across all three subjects. The state did not provide average scale scores, and no multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether these results represent recent improvement, stability, or change over time. What is clear is that the current snapshot shows a school where most students are meeting state standards in the core literacy and numeracy skills that the SBAC measures.
The student body is diverse in composition. White students form the largest single group, followed by a substantial Hispanic population and meaningful Asian and multiracial representation. A smaller Black enrollment and a very small Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander presence round out the demographics. All enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which in some Nevada schools reflects a community eligibility provision rather than individual family circumstances, though the data does not specify the mechanism here. Information on students with individualized education programs and English learner status was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized from the available data. The enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving this grade band, with fairly even distribution across the grade levels from kindergarten through fifth.
Henderson itself is Nevada's second-largest city, a predominantly residential community built around a series of master-planned neighborhoods with names like Green Valley, Anthem, and Inspirada. Publicly reported sources describe a city that grew rapidly through planned community development, with an economy anchored in logistics, manufacturing of electrical equipment and components, financial services, and media and sports production. The built environment is car-dependent suburban sprawl rather than dense, walkable street grids, though the city maintains an extensive recreational trail system and dozens of parks. The Raiders' headquarters and training facility are in Henderson, and Google operates a data center campus that has drawn further investment. The zip code surrounding Vanderburg carries home values above both the Nevada and national benchmarks, with a price-to-income ratio that sits on the higher side, suggesting a relatively expensive housing market for the region. Rents are closer to the national norm, and the gap between monthly mortgage costs and rents is wide enough that renting is meaningfully cheaper than buying at current interest rates.
The Clark County School District is the governing district, one of the largest in the country. A search for recent parent-relevant changes at the district level turned up little of lasting impact, so there is nothing concrete to report on curriculum shifts, policy changes, or facility decisions tied to the district that would shape a family's experience at Vanderburg specifically.
What the data paints is a school with strong core academic outcomes in a growing, diverse suburban city where housing costs run above state averages. The absence of trend data, special-population breakdowns, and school-level program information limits the picture, but the proficiency results and student diversity are the defining features a parent can hold onto.
See more original research from School Decision →