CARSON CITY, Nev. – A crowd of more than 1,000 is expected for this year’s APT Celebration of Dedication, featuring 130 Clark County School District Kindergarten through fifth graders who will receive “Rock Star” Reading Awards at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on April 23.

The Nevada Department of Education, Clark County School District (CCSD) and Nevada PEP are hosting the second annual Assess-Plan-Teach (APT) Celebration of Dedication to honor the success of students with disabilities in reading and writing.

• When: April 23, 6 p.m.
• Where: Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas
• What: APT Celebration of Dedication

APT is a collaboration among the Nevada Department of Education, CCSD and Nevada PEP designed to provide teachers of students with disabilities high quality professional development in reading and writing strategies. Nevada PEP’s mission is to increase the opportunities for home, community and school success for children with disabilities.

Nevada received a five-year $3.78 million Federal State Professional Development Grant in 2015 to improve the performance of third-grade students with disabilities in CCSD on statewide assessments of reading/language arts through building the district’s capacity to strengthen the skills of special education teachers in assessment, instructional planning and teaching.

“This will be a very rewarding and emotional evening for our students, their parents and our teachers in this program,” said Steve Canavero, Ph.D., Superintendent of Public Instruction. “During the last year we’ve grown the program by five schools so that 1,600 students are now benefitting.”

Every participating teacher from each of the 31 schools in the program has selected one student to receive an award for their reading accomplishments. This year, 130 students and their families have been invited to receive honors at the event being held at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.