Just found an article about it in the Pahrump Valley Times. They say nothing about their affiliation with WWASPS.
June 29, 2005
Private school quietly opens in Amargosa Valley
By PHILLIP GOMEZ
PVT
A new private boarding school recently opened in Amargosa Valley, employing about 20 people, including at least one who commutes from Pahrump.
Horizon Academy opened just a couple of weeks ago - offering full-service, year-round education to students ranging in age from 13 to 18 years old. So far only two students are enrolled in the school, but its maximum capacity is 40 or 50, said Jade Robinson, one of the school's administrators.
More staffers are needed, he says. "We're looking for people who live in the valley and in Pahrump," he says. "We're working with the Pahrump JobConnect for them to get us employees."
Students will range from grades 7-12. Horizon Academy is licensed as a private school with the federal Department of Education and the Nevada Department of Child and Family Services, Robinson said.
The school is situated on a 25-acre campus, about half of which is developed for students and staff. The campus comprises classrooms, a library, cafeteria, multi-purpose room, kitchen, intervention room, dormitory, two full-sized basketball courts, a sand volleyball court and a playground the size of a football field. A fire suppression and irrigation pond is also located on the grounds.
Students are expected from all over the western United States. Horizon Academy caters to "students who have struggled in the public school system and parents who see them going down a road they don't want them to go down," said Robinson.
"One of the things students need as little as possible is distraction," says Robinson - something Amargosa Valley has little enough of and which provided the attraction that drew the school to the valley in the first place.
Robinson's wife Cathy is the school's director. The principal and owner is Jim McKim of St. George, Utah.
Robinson, his wife and four children live in condominiums a block away from the school on Mecca Road, just off State Route 373.
The Robinsons - he, from southern Utah and she, from the northern part of the state - a year ago took over what was a small strip mall of vacant suites and a former restaurant, transforming it into their boarding school. "The community was welcoming and it turned out to be a great venture," he says.
"We want to be a big part of the community. We have plans to be involved in service projects through the Kiwanis Club or other organizations. We don't have enough students to make a difference yet, but we'll be working on the Amargosa Opera House, helping to paint and maintain it." Another school service project Robinson has planned, still indefinite, is with Amargosa Valley's senior center.
