Incline Village High School was deemed unsafe for students and staff due to a gas leak, and was closed Tuesday. IHS Custodians worked tirelessly to dig out access to the leak.
From Incline High School Admin:
We’d like to celebrate some truly heroic employees that spent the last nine hours digging out the gas line on the roof. Marvin Cruz, Frank Espino, Antonio Cruz, and Antonio Reyes worked non-stop today to dig a 4′ deep trench the length of the 3rd floor roof from Mr. Canino’s room to the end of the music room! IPM also helped our super crew in digging the trench. Thank you to SW Gas for testing our gas line and making sure the boilers work. We’d again like to thank our entire Highlander Staff, our students, NLT Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, and Tara Cannon. All parties were cooperative, helpful, and proactive. Handmade thank you cards would be a lovely gesture to show how thankful we all are for the 9 hours of digging our custodians did today so we can get back in school tomorrow
Hi I’m Mary with the Incline Education Fund, a local nonprofit that support students, educators and parents here in Incline. Through our programming, advocacy and fundraising, IEF helps to ensure academic achievement and skill development across generations of Incline students. We have some exciting updates to share from each of the schools:
Incline Elementary School
Family Reading Night (due to last week’s Snow Day) has been rescheduled to this Thursday, March 9th. From 6-7:30 at Incline Elementary School. Food will be provided.
Also –
Glasses Wine Bar is hosting Sipping For Schools every Wednesday in March and will donate 20% of wine purchases from 3-9 pm on Wednesdays.
Incline Middle School
2 of our IMS Spelling Bee winners have qualified for the state competition in Las Vegas later this month!
IMS would like to thank Peter Hanson for coaching our Nordic Team this season and Alejandro Dominguez for coaching Volleyball. All teams had successful seasons. We are currently running an after-school intramural indoor soccer program until Spring Break with teacher Randy Berenson. Our next sport is Track and Field, open to all students. Hopefully, the snow will melt quickly!
A huge thank you to our new partners for the IMS Exploratory this term:
Pet Network, Nevada Nordic and Tahoe Multi-Sport all provided exciting opportunities for IMS students.
Incline High School
The annual IHS Boosters Crab Feed is sold out!
Thanks to the Duffield Personalization Grant, 10 IHS staff members are headed to the Deeper Learning Conference at High Tech High in San Diego later this month and a separate team is headed to Seattle to visit Highline High School.
Employment Opportunities
Love being at the school and volunteering? Join the Incline High School Highlander Staff! Email: tcahill@washoeschools.net
• Teacher Aide II SpEd: (32.5 hrs. benefited position)
• Clerical Aide: (23.5 hrs.)
• Night Custodian (FT)
• Family Graduation Advocate -Full-time. (Spanish Speaking/Writing)
This is a very important position. We are looking for someone to advocate for and support all students/families to graduation.
Join UNR at Lake Tahoe for their 39th year of Summer Arts Workshops at Lake Tahoe! Painting, ceramics, drone videography, collage, laser cutting, and more!
Prepared Not Scared: The First 30 Seconds, Training
February 14, 2023 | Member Submitted
Be prepared, not scared. Intended for public facing faculty and staff, this training shows why the first 30 seconds can be critical when lives are on the line. This training covers situational awareness, human responses when confronted with an emergency, and actions to take in the first 30-seconds of any critical situation. Prepared not Scared is a 3-hour, interactive sessions, where participants will gain skills on how to be aware of crucial details and make immediate observations for any incident where lives are on the line. Active assailant incidents are covered in the training but is not the primary focus.
Please register for the training, Prepared Not Scared, offered by the Organizational Resilience Office occurring on February 28, 2023 from 9am – 12pm.
Training Location: Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, room 139
In the News: Incline Middle School Awarded $50k Grant, Begins New Robotics Class
February 8, 2023 | Miranda Jacobson
Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune on 2/7/23.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Incline Village Middle School has been awarded a $49,559 grant form the Governor’s Office to build a state-of-the-art robotics course for the campus.
The grant will allow social studies teacher Kevin Edwards to teach students to code and operate robots, drones, submersible claws, and to develop their STEM skills to track, find, and recover trash that is left in and around the basin.
Incline Education Fund Secures Two $50,000 STEM Grants for Incline Schools
January 18, 2023 | Mary Danahey
The Incline Education Fund (IEF) was awarded a $50,000 grant in early October from the Washoe County Community Reinvestment Program for the Incline High School Engineering and Entrepreneurship program. They received a second $50,000 grant this January from the Nevada Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation and Technology (OSIT) to support the Incline Middle School Robotics Program.
Founded in late 2019, the nonprofit Incline Education Fund is the leading champion for Incline’s public schools. With an impressive list of successful projects, it now adds these grant awards to its list of accomplishments.
“Our focus this school year is on continuing to lay the groundwork to create a K12 STEM pathway for the Incline public schools,”
Mary Danahey
IEF Cofounder
With the push for STEM expertise, Danahey said that IEF realizes students will always need strong core academic skills in order to succeed in these exciting new programs.
To ensure that all students are prepared, IEF has partnered with Tahoe Tutoring “to provide extra academic reinforcement to those who most need a little extra help at both Incline Elementary and Middle School,” explained cofounder Sharon Schrage. “Plans are also underway to give that same additional attention to students above grade level to foster extra academic enrichment.”
In just the past two years, the Incline Education Fund has become the driving force in bringing innovative educational programs to Incline schools.
“Despite headwinds from shrinking school budgets and the pandemic, IEF is proving that local energy can creatively address the challenge of preparing students for the jobs of the future”
Successful pilot & launch of UNR’s Dean’s Future Scholars pilot program
Ongoing mentorship program at Incline Middle School
The Courage Project pilot program at Incline Elementary School
Ongoing program to build resiliency at IES
IEF Sponsored educational events
including: Mock Interview Day, EdPlanIt College Boot Camp, TERC Science Expo, Incline Elementary School Parent Nights
Technology Drive for Incline Middle School
Raised $100,000+ to provide laptops for each student
Incline Elementary School Makerspace
Raised $100,000+ for a robotics and coding lab
In addition to academic support, Incline Education Fund is also underwriting some of the Incline Middle Schools’ Exploratory classes, including swimming and the new culinary class this semester. Outside of the classroom, IEF has partnered with AAUW Tahoe-Nevada to bring both a Girls Who Code chapter and a Culinary Club to students. IEF is also working with both Incline Village Rotary Groups to update the Incline Middle School library.
IEF is always looking for individuals willing to share their skills and experience as mentors, coaches or as a speaker. “Volunteers are always needed to help with tutoring or as reading buddies, classroom aides, subject specialists and most importantly, substitute teachers.”
Hi I’m Mary with the Incline Education Fund, a local nonprofit that support students, educators and parents here in Incline. Through our programming, advocacy and fundraising, IEF helps to ensure academic achievement and skill development across generations of Incline students. We have some exciting updates to share about the Elementary and Middle School:
Incline Elementary School IES and Nevada Jane’s are partnering this month for a Dining for Dollars event. On Wed. Jan. 18th from 4pm – 9pm, 50% of the proceeds from each meal will go directly to IES.
The math department is hosting a “Build It Festival” on Thursday 1/26, 5:30pm. Families are welcome to come to school to engage in hands on activities.
Volleyball season has started, thank you Coach Dominguez. Upcoming Home games are on Thursday 1/19, Tues 1/24, Wed 1/25, Tues 1/31, Tues 2/7. 7th grade team plays 3pm, 8th grade teams plays 4pm.
Term 3 of IMS Exploratory brings new community partnerships with Pet Network and Tahoe Multisport (offering XC skiing!). Programs this semester also include: Bowl Incline, Swimming at the Rec Center and on campus courses including Crochet, Discovering Travel, World Percussion, Volleyball, Culinary and the Dean’s Future Scholars Robotics program.
Congrats to our newest BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER – Sabrina Gentner. She joins our other 3 Board Certified teachers, Ginny Holmes, Jan Hrindo, and Christine Huerta.
Hi I’m Mary with the Incline Education Fund, a local nonprofit that support students, educators and parents here in Incline. Through our programming, advocacy and fundraising, IEF helps to ensure academic achievement and skill development across generations of Incline students. We have some exciting updates to share about each of the schools:
Incline Elementary School IES students have been busy putting their STEAM skills to work this holiday season! For the past couple of weeks, students have been working on a school-wide project. Students have been reading books about parades and floats and then using their creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills to design their own floats and a parade route. Then they programmed their robots to “carry their floats” through the halls of IES. The holiday parade is scheduled for December 22 at 10:00.
Incline Middle School And not to be outdone, Incline Middle School will be showing off their STEM skills this holiday season as well. Even though Nevada Jane’s will be closed until 12/21, head over their porch to check out IMS’s holiday light display. The 7th & 8th graders created all of the displays, chose the songs, coded the light sequences and programmed the 13-minute show. There are 5 sequences and the show will run daily from 5pm-9pm. Additionally, they are entering the Deck the Halls Lighting Contest! A huge thank you to Terry Barberry and Incline Education Fund for supporting this project.
Incline High School Huge congrats are in order to the Incline High School “We the People” team!! For the 20th time in 23 years, our small-town school has made it to State. The next competition will be Feb. 4th. Basketball, both nordic and alpine skiing, and wrestling have begun. Check the IHS website for details. And don’t forget to mark your calendars for the annual CrabFeed – it’s on March 18th at the Hyatt. Get the details here.
With Thanksgiving now only a week away, the holidays are officially upon us. All of the celebratory events (some obligatory, some not) between now and the start of the new year can get a little overwhelming. Family and friends coming to visit, college kids returning (getting us used to the idea of them leaving the nest for good) and the resultant cycle of shopping, eating and cleaning more than fills all of our days.
I’m still learning how to just embrace the chaos.
On the off chance that you are looking for something to do (or just need a reminder of where your kids are) here’s what’s happening at each of our schools:
Incline Elementary School
IES is hosting their first holiday parade. The 3rd ,4th, & 5th grade makerspace classes are making floats and programming robots to carry balloons in a “parade” through the halls of the school. Who needs the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Interesting projects like this might be why the IES makerspace is getting the attention of Washoe County School District.
If you need a holiday gift, IES is selling SEE’s Candy. Shop online before Dec 2nd and you’ll get guaranteed delivery before Christmas. Shop the IES See’s Candy Fundraiser
Lake Tahoe School
Come out to watch the talented LTS middle school drama class production of Shrek, the Musical Jr. It’s this Thursday and Friday (11/17, 11/18) at 6pm in Duffield Hall. Admission is free!
Incline Middle School
Speaking of music… the IMS robotics class will be programming a holiday light and music show and will compete in this year’s IVCBA Northern Lights contest.
The display will run for 15 minutes on the hour at 6, 7, & 8 pm daily, between Dec 2-25th.
BTW, if you want to be a part of the fun, they are welcoming donations of light displays to integrate alongside the displays they are creating.
The first home basketball games are on Tues, Dec 6th. JV at 4, followed by the Girls and Varsity. These are non-league games against Reno High. Check the IHS website for game schedules
IHS officially welcomes back 4 alumni to coaching roles.
This winter, Brianna Barraza returns to coach Girls JV Basketball, and Cody Feliciano is bringing back Wrestling. Peter Salazar took Boy’s Soccer to State this fall and Lisa Nelson will lead the Girls Softball team in the spring.
By the way, IHS is not just a bunch of great athletes. They are civic-minded as well. IHS held a mock election last week and over 70% of the students voted, crushing the 45% of eligible voters in the state of Nevada. Way to go Gen Z-ers!
UNR at Lake Tahoe
The new UNR-LT campus is hosting Candy Cane Lane, the signature Northern Lights event on Dec 3rd from 4-6pm. Come out to see the tree lighting, sing a few carols, make some s’mores and of course, have a quick chat with Santa & Mrs. Claus.
And finally,
if you’re ever interested in volunteering at the schools, feel free to reach out to me directly. I’d be happy to connect you. We are always looking for: substitutes (it’s not as scary as you think), mentors, classroom aides, homework helpers, reading buddies, coaches (for sports, robotics or after school activities). Reach out to me at: maryd@inclineeducationfund.org
Incline Education Fund piloted a First Grade Reading Intervention Program
September 28, 2022 | Member Submitted
“The U.S. Department of Education released data showing that from 2020 to 2022, average reading scores for 9-year-olds slid 5 points—to 215 out of a possible 500 in the sharpest decline since 1990. Average math scores fell 7 points to 234, the first statistically significant decline in math scores since the long-term trend assessments began in the 1970s.” Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2022. Earlier, on August 8, the Washoe County School District (WCSD) shared via the Reno Gazette-Journal, “approximately 34% of WCSD students met or exceeded grade level standards in math.” While IES scores came in higher than the district at 39% (5% lower than pre-Covid numbers), there in still much work to be done.
We at the Incline Education Fund believe that with your help, the Incline Schools can reverse the learning loss of the past two years and increase reading and math scores across the board through our year-long literacy focus. Last spring, the Incline Education Fund piloted a First Grade Reading Intervention Program led by Retired National Board-Certified Teacher Kathleen McInnis-Martens to support reading success. McInnis-Martens worked with the Incline Elementary School (IES) teachers to target those students most in need of assistance. With only a partial year of tutoring, these students tested in the high growth category on the Measured Academic Progress (MAP) Report for Reading last Spring and many of those students ‘words per minute’ reading scores doubled. This targeted intervention reflects what Bianca Vasquez Torres found in the August 30, 2022 Associated Press article on education. After interviewing John King, Jr., former U.S. Secretary of Education and president of Education Trust, she wrote that studies show “…If done well, tutoring has a greater impact than most other interventions”. (**Kathleen McInnis-Marten, an IVCBA member, is the owner of Glasses Wine Bar in Incline Village**)
The Incline Education Fund is building on McInnis-Marten’s success last year and is now adding math intervention as well. We need your help to roll these programs up through the rest of the school grade by grade. This year, especially, it is imperative to support those students who’ve lost critical learning time. Vasquez-Torres added that studies show “Third graders are at a particularly delicate moment. This is the year when they must master reading or risk school failure. Everything after third grade will require reading comprehension to learn math, social studies and science. Students who don’t read fluently by the end of third grade are more likely to struggle in the future, or even drop out.”
Please help Incline students succeed across the board with targeted tutoring for those who need it most. With you, they can.
