Nye County School District welcomes back students and their families
The Nye County School District (NCSD) is welcoming students and their families to the 2026–2027 school year and sharing important information ahead of the always exciting first day.
“Whether your family resides in Amargosa, Beatty, Gabbs, Pahrump, Round Mountain, or Tonopah, our dedicated teachers, staff, and administrators have been working hard to prepare engaging, safe, and supportive classrooms across all 18,182 square miles of our district,” Superintendent Joe Gent wrote in a welcome letter.
The first day of school for four-day week school communities is Monday, Aug. 3. Pahrump schools’ first day is Wednesday, Aug. 5. PreK students will start on August 17.
“Our mission is to empower every student to learn at their highest level,” Gent added in the letter. “To make that vision a reality, we need our students in class, engaged, and ready to grow every single day. We are honored to partner with you in your child’s educational journey!”
The school district is advocating for consistent attendance with school starting next week.
“Every day a student is in school is an opportunity for them to learn, grow, and build a strong foundation for their future,” Gent said in a statement. “We are committed to partnering with our families to ensure every student has the chance to succeed, and that starts with being present in the classroom.”
In an effort to streamline communication and absence reporting, the NCSD will now use Rooms (formerly EduRooms) instead of ClassDojo.
“Our goal all along was to unify our system, and this is the year when we are going to be on a unified communication system,” NCSD Director of Technology and Data and Chief Communications Officer Robert Williams told the Pahrump Valley Times.
Rooms is a messaging feature that is directly integrated into the official NCSD mobile app and website. An NCSD press release shared the following steps on how to report an absence using Rooms:
■ Open the NCSD App and navigate to Rooms.
■ Go to the messages section and create a message with the school secretary or clerk who handles attendance. If you have students at multiple schools, you can add up to three employees to the message and send one message to all three at the same time (e.g. the attendance clerks at Hafen, RCMS, and PVHS).
Direct messages should include the student’s full name, date or dates of absence, reason for the absence and a clear photo attachment of the official doctor’s note for medical appointments, the school district stated in the release.
The school district is also reminding families about truancy prevention and the “DM” code.
“Under Nevada law and district policy, an unverified absence without parent notification within three (3) school days must be recorded as truancy,” the press release states. “Unresolved truancies will result in required referrals to law enforcement and possible citations.”
“When a parent or guardian provides a reason for an absence within three days, the absence is coded as “DM” (Domestic Measure). While DM appears as unexcused in Infinite Campus, providing a reason ensures the absence cannot be marked as a truancy,” reads the release. “A few DM absences will not negatively impact a child’s record, but it helps us track chronic absenteeism and allows us to find those parents who might want to need additional support or might want to consider alternative school options for their families, like Pathways or homeschool.”
For more information about NCSD attendance, visit nye.k12.nv.us/page/attendance.
More about Rooms
The NCSD shared that parents and step-parents have instant access to Rooms. According to a follow-up press release, a wait is not needed for an invitation to log in since both parents and step-parents listed in Infinite Campus (IC) now have active accounts.
“Simply log in using the email address or mobile phone number currently on file with your child’s school in Infinite Campus,” the release adds.
A school district press release included the following note about shared contact info, “If two guardians share the exact same phone number or email address in Infinite Campus, standard login will not work because the system cannot verify who is requesting the passcode. Please ensure each parent/guardian has unique contact information updated with your school secretary.”
Rooms uses password-free logins and instead employs a quick passcode verification system.
“Enter your registered mobile number or email address, and Rooms will text or email you a one-time code to finish logging in,” explains the release.
Students log in by using their official @nyeschools.org student email address through the “Sign in with Google” prompt.
For school district employees who are also NCSD parents, logging in must be done using the personal mobile phone number on file in IC.
If you are experiencing difficulty when logging in, a unique invitation code can be generated by a teacher.
“These invitation codes link a parent to one student at a time,” the press release notes. “If you have multiple children or multiple teachers, you will need to receive a separate code for each child/class.”
In an effort to not keep any families out of the loop, NCSD will begin sending automated invitation texts and emails on Tuesday, Aug. 4 to those in Infinite Campus who have not activated Rooms’ accounts.
If an account remains unactivated, a reminder invite will be sent every three days over the course of two weeks until setup is complete.
“I think it has the potential to improve pretty much all aspects of kids’ education, in the sense that parents should hopefully be able to get responses faster,” Williams said. “It’s a clear communication method.”
For guides, troubleshooting tips and help sites for digital district platforms such as Rooms and Infinite Campus, visit nye.k12.nv.us/page/parent-toolkit.
Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com
