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Founding Board President Carolyn G. Goodman researched the concept of and developed the prospectus for Nevada's first nonprofit, nonsectarian, coeducational, pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade college preparatory school, and began inquiries for land donations during 1978 through 1980. The population of Las Vegas at the time was 165,000. During 1981 and 1982, Mrs. Goodman filed legal incorporation for the "Clark County Day School" (which became The Meadows School). On November 21, 1981, Mrs. Goodman gained the IRS nonprofit status for the School and shortly after began dialogue with Dr. LeOre Cobbley, principal of George E. Harris Elementary School in the Clark County School District, about heading the elementary program of the School. The first Board of Trustees was formed in January 1984, and in March of that year the School was granted a Nevada State License. Dr. Cobbley was hired as the first Head of School. By June 1984, Mrs. Goodman had raised enough money to purchase 5,000 sq. ft. of prefabricated modular buildings which were placed on 1.25 acres of a parking lot loaned to the School by Board member Fletcher Jones, Jr.  The School opened on September 4, 1984, to 140 students in grades K-6.

The quest for a permanent land site continued once the School opened. In 1985, Mrs. Goodman was introduced to William R. Lummis, nephew of Howard Hughes and then Chairman of the Board of Summa Corporation (Howard Hughes Properties parent company) who was developing property northwest of  Las Vegas and thought The Meadows School a formidable, first occupant. Mr. Lummis and the entire Hughes family agreed to donate 40-acres for the permanent relocation of The Meadows School in Summerlin. They also provided additional funds to add new modular buildings on the temporary property to accommodate the growing student enrollment while the infrastructure of Summerlin was to begin. In fall 1987, construction began on the permanent campus of The Meadows School on Scholar Lane, the street name chosen by the students for their new School. Lower School students moved into the LeOre Cobbley Lower School permanent building in September 1988. Middle and Upper School students moved in December of that year. The School completed its enrollment growth and opened in the fall of 1990 with grades kindergarten through 12. The first Upper School Commencement, a class of three students, was held on June 10, 1991. Since that graduation, 100 percent of its graduates have placed in four-year colleges or universities.

Permanent buildings and facilities have been built on the campus because of the generosity of Meadows families, friends, and community members. The Richardson-Beckley Gymnasium was dedicated in October 1988; the Sarah D. Barder Upper School and Plaster Baseball Diamond were added in 1993; and the Levin-Richardson Track and Creel Football Field were dedicated in 1995. In fall of 1999, Carolyn G. Goodman Beginning School opened, completing the pre-kindergarten through grade 12 objectives, and in 2000, the Wanda Lamb Peccole Center for the Arts opened. The final permanent academic structure, Fertitta-Sturm Middle School, was dedicated on August 25, 2005.