A Piggott Academy Pre-K Teacher Is the 2026 Nevada Early Educator of the Year

Related Stories

Valley High Teacher Brooke Wheatley Is the 2027 Nevada State Teacher of the Year

CCSD Tops 14,000 Free Pre-K Seats and Just Landed 1,700 More

CCSD Turns 70: From 20,000 Students in 1956 to About 277,000 Today

Connie Johnson, a preschool teacher at Piggott Academy of International Studies on the west side of the Las Vegas Valley, is the 2026 Nevada Early Educator of the Year. The Nevada Department of Education surprised her with the award in her own classroom on Monday, Sept. 28, and it puts a spotlight on the youngest learners in the Clark County School District at a time when free pre-K is growing fast.

Johnson teaches 3, 4 and 5-year-olds, including kids with developmental delays, in a class of nearly three dozen students. Her secret is not a new app or a pricey program. It is play. Puppets, wooden blocks, a pretend grocery store checkout line and a lot of questions from curious little kids.

She shares the 2026 honor with Kyleigh Abittan, an early childhood home visitor in Reno. For Las Vegas families, though, the local story is simple and good: one of the best early educators in the state is teaching in a CCSD classroom right here in town. School news in Clark County has been heavy lately, with budget fights, audits and bus costs. This is a welcome change of pace.

Below, we cover what happened on award day, why a pre-K teaching award matters to Las Vegas households, how the program works, what comes next and what you can do if you have a little one at home.

What Happened

On Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, state education leaders walked into Connie Johnson's pre-K classroom at Piggott Academy of International Studies with balloons, a check and a big announcement. Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Victor Wakefield presented her with the 2026 Nevada Early Educator of the Year award from the Nevada Department of Education. Michael Mitchell, director of the department's Office of Early Learning and Development, was also on hand, along with Clark County School District leaders.

The award came with $500 from the state and gifts from the education supply company Lakeshore Learning. FOX5 reported the gift bag included a $250 gift card for classroom supplies. Any parent who has sent a kid to school with a supply list knows that $250 goes a long way in a room full of preschoolers.

It was not an easy award to win. According to FOX5, Johnson was chosen from a pool of more than 115 applicants after a multi-round interview process. That is a statewide field, which means she stood out among early educators from every corner of Nevada.

In a statement reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Wakefield said early childhood educators are "integral to building the strong academic foundations" young learners need. He added that the recognition lifts up educators who serve as the anchor of both schools and communities.

So who is Connie Johnson? The Review-Journal reports she has taught at Piggott Academy for two years and has worked for CCSD for five. FOX5 reports she is a Las Vegas local through and through: a graduate of Durango High School and of the Clark County School District itself. She came up through the same system she now teaches in.

Her class is an inclusion pre-K class. That means kids with a wide range of needs and skills learn side by side. FOX5 described it this way: some students are 3-year-olds with little or no language, and some are 5-year-olds who are already reading. Teaching both ends of that range in the same room, on the same day, is a real skill.

Johnson told the Review-Journal that every day in her room has its challenges, but that "every day magic happens in here." She said she loves figuring out how to help each student meet their own needs and goals, and grow into who they are supposed to be.

How Johnson Teaches: The Power of Play

Walk into Johnson's room and it does not look like a row of desks. The Review-Journal described hand puppets, wooden building blocks and a pretend grocery store checkout line set up around the classroom, with student-made art hung proudly on the walls. FOX5 added kitchen sets and student-led projects to that list. To an adult, it might look like a playroom. To a 4-year-old, it is a lab.

Johnson calls it the "power of play." She told the Review-Journal that play is how young kids build social and emotional skills, early reading, early math and relationships with each other. A checkout line teaches counting and taking turns. Blocks teach shapes, balance and problem solving. Puppets give a shy child a way to talk.

She pairs play with what educators call inquiry-based learning. In plain terms, the kids ask questions and the class works out the answers together. If a student wonders why something floats or where rain comes from, that curiosity becomes the lesson. Johnson told the Review-Journal that mixing the two approaches helps kids become who they are meant to be and plants a love of learning that lasts.

FOX5 reported that Johnson described teaching this age group as a journey full of magic, wonder, curiosity and discovery. It is clear from both reports that she sees her job as much bigger than getting kids ready to sit still in kindergarten. She is trying to make them want to learn.

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

At first glance, a teaching award might feel like a nice story and nothing more. But pre-K touches a huge number of Las Vegas households, and it touches them at the most expensive stage of raising a child. Anyone who has priced full-day childcare for a 3 or 4-year-old in Clark County knows it can rival a car payment or more.

That is why the growth of free pre-K in CCSD matters so much. The Las Vegas Sun reported on Sept. 8 that the district now has more than 14,000 free prekindergarten seats after adding about 2,200 since August 2025. A few days later, CCSD trustees accepted a report showing another 1,700 Nevada Ready! Pre-K seats for the 2026-2027 school year. We broke those numbers down in our earlier post on the pre-K expansion.

More seats are only half of the picture, though. A seat is only as good as the teacher in the room. Johnson's award is a reminder that the quality of the program matters just as much as the size of it. When a parent drops off a 3-year-old, they want to know that child is safe, known and learning. A statewide award is one of the few outside signals a parent gets about what is happening inside a classroom.

There is also a practical point here for families of kids with disabilities or developmental delays. Johnson teaches an inclusion class. For a parent who is worried about a speech delay or other early need, seeing that CCSD inclusion classrooms can be this strong is encouraging. Early help can make a big difference, and it starts with knowing where to look.

Johnson said as much herself. She told the Review-Journal she has watched former pre-K students thrive in older grades because of the foundation they built with her. FOX5 reported she sees pre-K as the thing that "lays the foundation" for kindergarten. Parents often hear that kindergarten is the new first grade. A strong pre-K year is how a lot of kids walk in ready.

Finally, this is just good news for the community. Las Vegas gets a lot of national headlines about its schools, and many of them are not kind. Two weeks in a row now, CCSD teachers have won top statewide teaching honors. Last week it was Valley High social studies teacher Brooke Wheatley as the 2027 Nevada State Teacher of the Year. This week it is Johnson at the pre-K level. That says something about the people working in our classrooms.

Background and History

The Nevada Early Educator of the Year award is run by the Nevada Department of Education's Office of Early Learning and Development. It honors educators who work with children from birth through age 5. When the department announced its 2025 winners, it said the program was then in its fifth year, and it named partners including The Children's Cabinet and Lakeshore Learning.

The award is not limited to school district teachers. According to The Nevada Registry, which posted the 2026 call for nominations, lead teachers of infants, toddlers and pre-K students could apply. That includes child care centers, Head Start, private, charter and district schools, special education programs and early intervention roles. Anyone could nominate a teacher, and self-nominations were welcome. Nominations ran from March 2 to April 27, 2026, and applications were due May 10.

Past winners show how wide the net is. The 2025 honorees were two preschool teachers from rural and northern Nevada, one at Kate Smith Elementary in Sparks and one at Mt. Charleston Elementary in Pahrump. This year, one of the two winners teaches in Las Vegas and the other is a home visitor in Reno, which shows the award covers early learning both in and outside the classroom.

Piggott Academy of International Studies is a CCSD magnet school at 9601 Red Hill Road in the 89117 ZIP code, according to the district's magnet schools office. As a magnet campus, it draws families who apply to attend, not only kids zoned to the school.

What Happens Next

For Johnson, the next step is simple: back to class. Pre-K does not stop for a ceremony, and nearly three dozen kids will be waiting for their blocks, puppets and checkout line. The $500 and the gift card for classroom supplies will likely go straight into that room, which is where most teachers put award money anyway.

For the award program, the cycle will start again. Based on the 2026 timeline posted by The Nevada Registry, nominations opened in early March and closed in late April, with applications due in May. The 2025 announcement from the Nevada Department of Education describes a committee review and interviews over the summer. If the 2027 cycle follows a similar schedule, parents who want to nominate a great early educator should watch for the call next spring. The Registry also notes that teachers who were nominated before but not selected can apply again each year.

For CCSD families, the bigger thing to watch is the pre-K expansion itself. The 1,700 new Nevada Ready! seats for 2026-2027 and the state infrastructure grants to convert classrooms at 28 schools mean more pre-K rooms are on the way. Each of those rooms needs a teacher. Awards like this one help the district make the case that early learning is a career worth choosing, which matters when every new seat needs someone skilled to lead it.

Ryan's Take

I love writing this kind of story. Most of what I cover for Las Vegas buyers and sellers is rates, prices and what the county is building. But when families call me, one of the first questions is almost always about schools. And more and more, young families are asking about pre-K, not just elementary school.

Here is my honest take. A free, full-day pre-K seat with a strong teacher is one of the biggest hidden money savers for a young family in Clark County. It does not show up on a listing sheet, and it is not tied to a home's address the way a zoned school is. Magnet programs like Piggott's take applications. But it can change a household budget more than a small difference in interest rate. If you are relocating here with a toddler, or buying your first home with a baby on the way, I would put pre-K on your checklist right next to commute time and HOA dues. And stories like Connie Johnson's are a good reminder that the people inside our schools are a big part of why this is a great place to raise kids.

What You Can Do

If you have a child who will be 3 or 4 soon, start by looking into CCSD's pre-K options for your area. Ask your zoned elementary school whether it has a pre-K program and whether seats are open. Earlier reporting showed that pre-K seats fill quickly, so it pays to ask early rather than wait for the school year to start. If you are interested in a magnet campus like Piggott, check the CCSD magnet schools website for application windows and school tours.

If your child has a speech delay or another early need, talk to your pediatrician and ask CCSD about early childhood special education and inclusion classrooms. Johnson's class is proof that kids with different needs can learn and grow together in a strong program.

And if there is an early educator in your life who deserves credit, remember them next spring. Anyone can nominate a teacher for the Nevada Early Educator of the Year award, including parents, co-workers and the teachers themselves. It takes a few minutes, and it might be the thing that puts the next great Las Vegas pre-K teacher in front of the whole state. In the meantime, a simple thank-you note to your child's teacher goes a long way too.

Have questions about schools, pre-K options or how they fit into your home search in Las Vegas? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. You can also email ryan@rosehomeslv.com. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | rosehomeslv.com

Sources

Las Vegas Review-Journal, "'Magic happens in here': Las Vegas pre-K teacher earns Nevada early educator award," by Spencer Levering, September 28, 2026

FOX5 Vegas, "Clark County pre-K teacher named Nevada Early Educator of the Year," by Arianna Schmidt, September 28, 2026

Nevada Department of Education, 2025 Nevada Early Educators of the Year announcement

The Nevada Registry, "Nominations and Applications NOW Open for Early Educator of the Year 2026"

Las Vegas Sun, "Southern Nevada families get relief as CCSD expands free prekindergarten access," September 8, 2026

CCSD Magnet Schools, Clarence Piggott Academy of International Studies