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Las Vegas valley magnet schools awarded, used as models for others

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Two local magnet schools are celebrating after being awarded as some of the top schools in the nation.

Las Vegas' Walter Bracken STEAM Academy and Henderson's Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts are both being awarded for their performance as magnet schools.  

The awards come at a time when Clark County School District is still struggling overall.   

Now, district officials plan to use the two awarded schools as a model for other struggling schools across the district. 

Walter Bracken is part of a franchise strategy, meaning its principal already takes her teaching model to two other schools in the district.  

Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky says they could expand that model to even more schools.  

"As we see results in schools and see programs that can be replicated, then we will look at exploring this option," Skorkowsky says.

Walter Bracken principal Katie Decker says by taking her teaching model to other schools, it essentially gives them a fast track to better performance.  

"The growth and achievement is exponentially faster than it would have been if we tried to built it from the first step," she says.