Mary Brickles Vice principal at Hafen Elementry Advertisement

The days of summer have finally whiled away, and students all over the county will soon be counting down their last precious days of freedom before Aug. 21, the day school doors all across Nye County will swing open.

For the administrators, teachers, and principals of the school district, however, summer vacation is only a bit of breather as they've been busy preparing for the start of a new year.

The district's principal's have been hard at work all summer, reviewing applications and conducting interviews with the 61 new personnel that have been hired by the district.

At last report, only 19 vacancies remained in the district, although that's likely to change during the few weeks remaining before the school year begins.

Two of the principals that will be welcoming students and staff this year are new to the district.

Al Eiseman, Tonopah High School's new principal, is looking forward to beginning the school new with his family.

Although Tonopah is a new location for Eiseman, it's not entirely a new environment.

The new principal, who hails from South Dakota, spent the previous six years as a principal and dean for rural schools in mining communities.

He will be joined at his new school by his wife, who will be teaching fourth grade.

Karen Liberty will begin the new school new by taking her new position as the principal of Amargosa Valley Elementary School, which she said has been a long-time ambition.

Liberty was formerly the curriculum and instruction coordinator for the district.

Liberty is hoping to raise the school's annual yearly progress (AYP) ranking of "needs improvement" to "high achieving" within the next two years.

The new principal would also like to implement a new mission statement, based on "building diversity through academics" in light of the large Hispanic population at the school.

Mt. Charleston Elementary School will begin the new year with Laura Weir as its new vice principal.

Weir has been a teacher at J.G. Johnson Elementary School for the previous five years.

Hafen Elementary School will also begin the year with a new second-in-command -- Mary Brickles.

Students in Beatty can look forward to getting to and from school in three brand-new, 84-passenger buses, which will replace older buses that will be used in the south part of the district.

Pahrump Valley High School has had four additional bus routes added, so Transportation Coordinator Cameron McRae urges parents not to assume their teenager will be on the same route as last year and to wait for a phone call from the district and make sure their application is in.

Schools in both regions of the district will be making use of new, and in some cases, more space for both learning and teaching with the installation of a number of new modulars.

Pahrump Valley High School will have four new modulars to accommodate its increase in students, and Hafen and J.G. Johnson Elementary schools have also added buildings to their campuses.

Pathways High School, home of the district's alternative education program, also recently got a new building which was just moved into this week.

Administrators at Manse Elementary will find themselves in a new office modular, and another building has been added to the Early Childhood Special Education complex.

Two additional modulars, which will house four classrooms, have been installed up north for Round Mountain Elementary students.

But perhaps the best news for the northern, rural schools is the addition of five "teacherages" in Gabbs, and two new teacherages in Round Mountain.

Rosemary Clarke Elementary School will be home of a new wind generator, ushering in the age of alternative energy.

The new generator will be installed next week and used as an educational tool as well as providing low-cost energy for the students.