A gap that needed filling.

Clark County has no small, secular, academically serious high school option. Large public schools offer stability but limited personalization. Religious private schools don't fit every family. Homeschooling requires time most families can't sustain.

Families who want something different are leaving their district, county, or settling. 

Currently:

✔ No small, secular Montessori-informed high school option in Clark County

✔ Large class sizes and limited individualized learning

✔ Families traveling outside the county to find the right fit

✔ Students need more real-world experience, mentorship & purpose

Atlas is being created to change that.

How it works:

The Community Is Part of the Classroom

Atlas is designed as a community-powered high school. Local businesses, nonprofit organizations, tradespeople, artists, public agencies, and community leaders will help students connect their education to real needs and opportunities throughout Clark County.

Our community partnerships will create two important pathways for learning: career-connected experiences and service learning.

Career-Connected Learning

Business and industry partners will give students opportunities to explore careers, develop practical skills, and learn alongside working professionals.

Through these partnerships, students may participate in:

• Paid internships and apprenticeships
• Career exploration and job shadowing
• Hands-on projects with local professionals
• Mentorship from people working in different industries
• Experiences in the trades, business, technology, healthcare, the arts, public service, and other career pathways

These experiences will help students connect academic learning to real work, build professional relationships, and better understand their strengths, interests, and possible paths after graduation.

Service Learning With Community Impact

Service will not be an occasional volunteer activity at Atlas. It will be an intentional part of the curriculum.

Atlas will partner with nonprofit and community service organizations to connect students with meaningful, ongoing work addressing real needs in Clark County. Students will learn about the challenges facing their community, understand the organizations working to address them, and contribute their time, ideas, creativity, and skills to that work.

Atlas is already partnering with the Clark County Food Bank to explore ways students can support its mission while learning about food insecurity, nonprofit operations, community health, logistics, agriculture, and public service.

By working alongside organizations like the Clark County Food Bank, Atlas students can become a force multiplier for local nonprofits. Students gain practical experience, empathy, civic awareness, and a deeper sense of purpose. Partner organizations gain additional hands, fresh ideas, and sustained support for work that matters.

This is service learning with mutual value. Students grow by contributing, and community organizations expand their capacity to serve.

Students will not be passive recipients of community support. They will become active participants in making Clark County stronge

A Small School With a Whole Community Behind It

Atlas Community High School is a nonprofit, secular, Montessori-informed high school being built for students who want something more personal, purposeful, and connected to the real world.

We believe teenagers learn best when they are known, challenged, trusted, and given meaningful opportunities to contribute. At Atlas, students will combine rigorous academics with hands-on projects, community service, career exploration, and real-world experience.

Our students will not simply learn about the world from inside a classroom. They will learn within the community itself.

Making Atlas Financially Accessible

Atlas is being designed to be accessible to families across income levels, not reserved only for those who can afford traditional private-school tuition.

Tuition will be based on family income and ability to pay. Paid internships and apprenticeships may also help participating students and families offset a portion of tuition costs while students gain valuable professional experience.

Scholarships, community investment, and business partnerships will provide additional support as the school grows.

Our goal is simple: a student’s financial circumstances should not determine whether they have access to a smaller, more personal, and more meaningful high school experience.

Atlas will not lower expectations based on income. We will work to lower the financial barriers standing between capable students and opportunity.

Montessori-Informed, Community-Powered

Although Montessori is no longer part of our name, its principles remain an important part of how we envision learning at Atlas.

Students will be encouraged to develop independence, curiosity, responsibility, and ownership of their education. Learning will be purposeful, connected across subjects, and grounded in meaningful work.

We are Montessori-informed, but community-powered.

That means combining student-centered learning with clear structure, rigorous academics, strong adult guidance, and authentic experiences beyond the classroom.

What We Believe

We believe every student deserves to be known.

We believe rigorous learning can be hands-on, creative, and connected to real life.

We believe meaningful work helps teenagers develop confidence, capability, and purpose.

We believe businesses and community organizations can play an active role in educating the next generation.

We believe service is not separate from education. It is part of becoming a thoughtful and responsible adult.

We believe family income should never be the gatekeeper to opportunity.