Gerlach K-12 School is a public K-12 school in Gerlach, Nevada. A part of the Washoe County School District, its attendance boundary includes Gerlach and Empire. [1]
It is about 110 miles (180 km) north of Reno. [2]
It includes a branch of the Washoe County Library System. [3]
The facility was previously Gerlach High School, a grade 6-12 school as of 2001. [4] [5] It opened in 1931, and got a new building in 1955 as the original building was destroyed by a fire. [6] The fire occurred in January 1955. [7] In the 1970s the school's grade spread was 5-12 and it had a teacher-student ratio at 1 to 9. By 1976 the school consolidated all grade levels in a single building to have more efficient use of employees, as the area population had declined. [2] It was renovated circa the late 1990s. [3]
Ernest M. Johnson Elementary School, initially an elementary school in Empire, moved to the Gerlach High site in Gerlach in 2001. [8] By 2000 the school's address was already in Gerlach. [9] It was to be housed in an eight classroom wing attached to the high school facility that was to open in fall 2002. [3]
Johnson became a K-12 school in 2011. [10]
Prior to fall 2000 enrollment was at 125 for the entire K-12 facility, with 55 students at Johnson Elementary and 70 students at Gerlach High. By that time the schools had one aide for English as a second language (ESL) purposes as an increasing number of students had that classification. The students were children of employees at Empire Farms and U.S. Gypsum. [3] At one point enrollment was 80, and there were 20 employees. By 2016 U.S. Gypsum had curtailed operations, and enrollment was down to eight with three full-time employees along with some part-time employees. [11]
There are different ethnic groups among the student body, majority are whites followed by Hispanic/Latino. [12]
Washoe County Public Schools maintains faculty housing through mobile homes in a way to retain staff. [3]
Welcome to the Gerlach K-12 School! [...] serving the communities of Gerlach and Empire.
40°39′12″N 119°21′13″W / 40.6532°N 119.3536°W