In The News – Incline High girls’ golf team is ‘building a dynasty’
November 16, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 11/16/2024, Written by Brenna O’Boyle
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – With their entire roster returning and the taste of Nevada 2A division State Championship victory still fresh, the Incline High School (IHS) Girls Golf Team has their sights set on building a dynasty.
“You just got to show up and play and see what happens,” said Coach Sam Canino, who has led the team for two years. “Coming up next for the team, hopefully all the girls play golf over the intervening months and maybe even recruit one or two more players and come back next year even stronger looking to establish a dynasty.”
The journey began with an unexpected challenge of finding enough players to field a complete team.
In The News – Incline High tennis rides championship wave
November 12, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 11/8/24, Written by Brenna O’Boyle
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – In the wake of sophomore Ross Hochberg’s stunning Nevada 3A Northern League Regional tennis championship win, Incline High School’s tennis program isn’t resting on its laurels.
Instead, the team is doubling down on development, with a clear mission that head coach John Klein describes with competitive fire.
“Our focus this post season is turning the strokes that are our liabilities into weapons,” Klein said of the work he and assistant coach Constance Marlin have implemented.
Photo: Provided – After sophomore Ross Hochberg’s stunning Nevada 3A Northern League Regional tennis championship win, Incline High School’s tennis program is doubling down on development.
In The News – Incline High ranks 14th out of 75+ high schools in Nevada
October 24, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 10/18/2024, Written by Brenna O’Boyle
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Incline High ranked No. 14 out of more than 75 schools statewide and No. 2,114 out of almost 18,000 public high schools nationally, according to a recent best high school rankings report by U.S. News and World Report.
The Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology (AACT) ranked No. 3, Galena High School ranked No. 8 and Reno High School earned the No. 12 slot in Nevada.
“I am incredibly proud of our school community for being ranked 14th in the state by U.S. News and World Report,” said Principal Tierney Cahill. “As a five-star school, this recognition highlights the hard work and dedication of our students, staff, and families, especially the progress we’ve made in key areas like supporting our multilingual learners in achieving language proficiency.”
Thanks to a generous grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Tahoe-Nevada, the Incline Education Fund (www.inclineeducationfund.org) has successfully completed its fundraising efforts to bring Skill Struck’s Chat for Schools AI platform to both Incline High School (IHS) and Incline Middle School (IMS). This community-supported initiative will launch a two-year pilot program that introduces an advanced, AI-driven learning tool designed to level the playing field for all students.
Developed by Skill Struck, Chat for Schools personalizes lesson plans and supports diverse learning styles, using a Socratic method of questioning to encourage critical thinking and deeper learning. The platform also provides real-time, personalized support in coding and computer science, enhancing student engagement while promoting independent problem-solving skills. Its multilingual capabilities are particularly beneficial for English Learners (EL), helping them keep pace with more advanced coursework despite language barriers. By integrating AI into the classroom, educators can offer more tailored learning experiences, ensuring every student can succeed in an increasingly digital world.
According to IHS Engineering teacher Adam Shoda, Chat for Schools is a valuable classroom tool. “The platform will allow me to give more one-on-one instruction to my students in the classroom, while challenging other students to think beyond immediate answers. This is NOT about replacing a teacher with a computer, but an opportunity for me to target in-person instruction. By using Chat for Schools’ response history, I will be able to uncover specific areas where a student may need more support or is eager to move ahead in their studies.”
While Incline Education Funds’ purchase of the Chat for Schools platform and training is limited to IHS and IMS, the program’s introduction creates broader opportunities for the Washoe County School District (WCSD). Thanks to IEF’s contract, all other WCSD schools will also be eligible to run their own limited AI pilot programs through Skill Struck.
A leader in the Incline School’s K12 STEM Pathway, the Incline Education Fund continues to bring innovative and technologically advanced academic opportunities to the Incline Schools and is part of IEF’s broader effort to become “Model” schools for the state.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to the Incline Education Fund for their diligent efforts in securing funding to support K-12 education in the Incline community. Their unwavering dedication ensures that Incline’s elementary, middle, and high school students have access to invaluable resources and opportunities, helping them thrive academically and beyond. Thank you for your commitment to our future generations.”
We’re thrilled to share some fantastic news with our Incline High School family and community—we’ve earned a 5-star rating, the highest possible, on the Nevada School Performance Framework! Last year was the first year the star ratings returned after COVID, and while we proudly held a 4-star status, we expect more of ourselves and our collective efforts. Thanks to the dedication of our students, staff, and families, we’ve climbed even higher!
Here are some of the incredible highlights that made this achievement possible:
Graduation Success:
Our graduation rate continues to impress! This year, 95.3% of our students graduated on time, up from 93% last year!
At a small school like Incline, even one student not graduating or moving without notifying us can significantly impact our graduation numbers. We are incredibly proud of our students for this achievement, and we expect every student to graduate!
English Language Learner (ELL) Success:
One of our most impressive achievements came from our English Language Learners (ELL). We saw a huge increase in students making the necessary progress to exit EL services within five years, jumping from 5.8% to 26.6%! This earned us all 10 possible points in this category, and we couldn’t be prouder of our dedicated students and teachers!
Special shout out to Ms. Shine, Ms. Porras, and Lourdes Avenier for their amazing work. It’s important to note that ALL teachers are EL teachers, supporting this success across the board.
We’re also grateful to our Booster friends for helping create community events that allowed us to better serve our Hispanic population. We expect these results to continue improving as we launch the HOPA program, matching Hispanic students with mentors to help guide them through the college process. Mentorship is key to ensuring students achieve their dreams!
College & Career Ready:
Post-Secondary Success: More students are preparing for the future, with 69.8% of our students completing advanced courses, earning dual credits, or finishing career programs. That’s a big jump from last year, earning us top marks!
We’re excited to see our Personalized Learning Academy continue to provide authentic real world opportunities, mentorship, and preparation to help students stand out to colleges and employers.
Science Proficiency Soars:
We saw a big improvement in science proficiency! Way to go, future scientists and innovators!
We are committed to helping every student succeed and continuing to grow, particularly in Math and ELA proficiency. With the addition of AP and UNR concurrent dual credit courses taught on campus by our own teachers at no cost, every student now has access to challenging, college-level coursework. This opportunity is available to any student who wishes to push themselves academically and prepare for their future!
This 5-star rating is a reflection of the incredible support and involvement from our entire Incline community. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Thank you for being part of this amazing journey—let’s keep reaching for the stars together!
Well, now that we’ve all had 2 weeks to accept that summer is over, it’s time to get back into the groove of the school year. There are lots of new and exciting things happening at each of our schools, so let’s start with the schedule of Back to School Nights: IES: Tuesday, Sept 10th 5:30pm
IMS: Thursday, Sept 12th 6:00pm
IHS: Tonight! Sept 4th 5:30pm
If you want to be “in the know” all year round, this is the time to join the parent group at each school you have a student at. The parent organizations provide vital support for our schools and are also the BEST way to both get involved and find out what’s going on and when. At Incline Elementary, it is the PTA, at Incline Middle, it’s the Jr. Boosters and at Incline High School it’s the Boosters. Check your school websites for contact information.
If you don’t have a current student in the schools, you can still volunteer! Incline Education Fund will be launching a “Volunteer Hub” very soon, so check back here for more information.
Here’s what’s new at each of the schools this year:
Incline Elementary School has welcomed Jeana Curtis as their new Principal. Ms. Curtis has been with WCSD since 2001 and has had leadership roles as both a principal and an area superintendent. She came out of retirement just to be here in Incline!
Incline Middle School continues to expand and refine the opportunities for students to “learn by doing” in the Wednesday Exploratory programs. This quarter’s new offerings include: financial literacy, broadcasting, mural painting, environmental science and tennis, but mountain biking, swimming, cooking, leadership and entrepreneurship are ongoing programs. Middle school sounds a lot more exciting than I remember it.
Incline High School is still on target to complete the new addition by the beginning of March, there are a few new additions to the staff (more details will be forthcoming), the first class of students enrolled in the Personalized Academy are already thriving, our athletic teams are all off to a fantastic start and IHS will host a HUGE College Fair on October 21st with close to 30 top-tier universities.
Have in common? They are all sustainable solutions that come from thinking with nature.
Walking softly with the land to listen and understand invites insights and answers for planetary problems. Nature also demonstrates resilience, now identified as the most critical attribute young people need to survive and thrive in the modern world. Mindful connection to nature can address personal issues as well.Sustainable Tahoe’s mission is to accelerate the adoption of Geotourism – tourism that does no harm.
We demonstrated this with the Geotourism Expos we hosted (2011-2014). When planning for the 2014 Tahoe Expo, I found myself on the edge of the lake with a Washoe elder, who hadn’t seen his people’s homeland in decades. He looked out into the lake like he was looking through time and after further contemplation said,
“The Lake is losing its sparkle, maybe no one sings to it anymore.”
Washoe Elder
I’m thinking, wait…what…singing? Then I remembered how Indigenous people see land, water, plants, and wildlife as sacred relations worthy of reciprocity. His response provoked me to further my own quest to better hear the earth’s voice. Eventually answers in the form of songs began to show me a key missing piece is how our culture defines Nature as separate and disconnected from humans. It’s hard to care about things you don’t feel connected to – right?
So, the idea to inspire a child’s innate connection to nature, through songs, stories and media evolved. What if we could grow a millennial forest of consciousness using the sticky rhythms of poems, songs, and stories from the earth, so children grow up feeling connected to Nature, a part of Nature, able to think with nature.
Sing with NatureIs a children’s animated media series where each 10-minute animated episode follows a clue that ends in a song highlighting insights discovered. The engagement can then move outside where a child can continue to explore seeing themselves in nature. Fostering a child’s instinctual connection to the natural world can build and preserve that resilience and natural tendency to think with nature, therefore accelerating solutions that can actually pivot a culture to align with Natures currency the currency of caring…so the water sparkles!
FYI Reference: Biomimicry: imitating nature’s systems, models, and elements to solve human problems and create a sustainable world. Regenerative Agriculture: focused on actually improving soil conditions into creating systems that are regenerative. Frontier Forests: large, intact natural forest ecosystems that are relatively undisturbed and large enough to maintain all of their biodiversity.
In The News – Washoe County School District superintendent welcomes Incline students back to school
August 21, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 08/21/2024, Written by Brenna O’Boyle
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Washoe County School District’s Superintendent Joe Ernst and a delegation of officials toured Incline Village schools to welcome students back Monday, August 19.
“Today, we had a chance to visit all of the Incline schools,” Ernst said. “We started out at Incline Middle School. We had a chance to see all of the great connections occurring between the middle school and its community partners.”
Next stop was Incline High School.
“It’s really exciting over there,” Ernst said. “You get a chance to see the expansion that’s occurring. We had student ambassadors and Student Voice that’s taking us around the building.”
Local Middle School and High School Athletes Shine at USATF Junior Olympics
August 6, 2024 | Member Submitted
Submitted by Allie Sacci with Lake Tahoe School, 08/05/2024
During the week of July 22 to July 28th, twenty-one stellar athletes from the Lake Tahoe Track Club traveled to Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, to compete in the 2024 USATF National Junior Olympics. Qualification for this prestigious competition is not an easy feat – athletes must compete at association and regional qualifiers throughout the summer in CA and NV.
The Lake Tahoe Track Club (LTTC), based out of Incline Village, is composed of 50 athletes from all over the Tahoe Basin. Athletes from Incline High and Incline Middle School, Lake Tahoe School, Truckee High, North Tahoe High, South Tahoe High, Doral Academy, Eagle Valley, Douglas High and more come together to form this club that is focused on promoting the love of running and track & field while also competing at state and national level meets.
The standout performance of the meet for LTTC was Truckee HS athlete Kiefer Willcox. In a stunning performance, Kiefer was crowned the 15-16 boys 1500m USATF National champion with a time of 3:58.99. He was also the 3000m runner-up with a time of 8:55.26 and was 11th in the 800m with a time of 1:59.94. Coach Kris Nugent remarked, “Kiefer had an outstanding national meet. He has been training hard with his Truckee coaches since early in the year and he continued to excel with our club this summer. Kiefer is an amazing young man and is destined to perform at bigger and better meets next year as a junior. We are very proud of everything he accomplished.”
Finishing top 8 at the USATF Nationals earns athletes the honor of being crowned All-Americans. Including Kiefer Willcox, LTTC had 12 additional athletes honored as All-Americans at this meet, listed below: Luke Davis, Douglas HS, finished 6th in the 17-18 boys 3000m (9:10.17). Alexis Hallenberg, North Tahoe HS, finished 6th in the 17-18 girls 2000m steeplechase (7:53.30). Mara Litchfield, Tahoe Expedition Academy, finished 4th in the 11-12 girls 800m (2:22.73). Autumn Burks, Alder Creek Middle School, finished 8th in the 13-14 girls 2000m steeplechase (7:40.18). The 13-14 girls 4x800m team finished 5th (10:03.72). The team was comprised of Shelby Erikson (Lake Tahoe School), Avery Aldrich (Alder Creek), Addison Confer (Doral Academy), and Samantha Ingram (Eagle Valley). Autumn Burks (Alder Creek) was the alternate at JO’s but competed at the qualifying meets for this team. The 11-12 boys 4x800m team finished 7th (10:16.75). The team was comprised of Miles Cooper and James Pietzke (Lake Tahoe School), and Landon Confer and Bryce Parsons (Doral Academy). Other notable results at Nationals were: Oliver Pietzke, Lake Tahoe School, finished 13th in the 13-14 boys 800m (2:07.60). Lily Cooper, North Tahoe HS, finished 19th in the 15-16 girls 2000m steeplechase (8:48.29). Arya Saini, South Tahoe HS, finished 21st in the 15-16 girls long jump (5.26m) and 18th in the 100m hurdles (15.26). Brody Defranco, South Tahoe HS, 34th in the 15-16 boys 400m hurdles (1:01.90) and 17th in the 110m hurdles semi-final (15.61). Shelby Erikson, Lake Tahoe School, finished 16th in the 13-14 girls 800m (2:2218), 20th in the 1500m (5:05.57), and 28th in the 400m (59.90). Landon Confer, Doral Academy, was 11th in the 11-12 boys 3000m (10:35.81). Corbin Sontag, Doral Academy, was 35th in the 13-14 boys shot put (10.54m). Ty Hammond, Truckee HS, finished 12th in the 15-16 boys 400m hurdles (57.88) and 23rd in the 110m hurdles semi-final (16.20). Avery Aldrich, Alder Creek MS, finished 14th in the 13-14 girls 3000m (11:00.42) and 36th in the 800m (2:32.58). Bryce Parsons, Doral Academy, finished 33rd in the 13-14 boys 800m (3:21.94). Jacob Manning, South Tahoe HS, finished 9th in the 17-18 boys 1500m (4:10.34) and 44th in the 800m (2:04.76). Samantha Ingram, Eagle Valley MS, finished 12th in the 13-14 girls 3000m (10:56.27). LTTC also had three athletes head to Greensboro, NC, to represent the club at the AAU National JO’s the following week. Hayden Featherston finished 19th in the 15-16 boys decathlon with 4,063 points. Brooks Erikson finished 32nd in the 13-14 boys 1500m with a time of 4:48.72. Brooks and his teammate Owen Francl also raced in the 800m and finished 59th and 85th respectively. The Lake Tahoe Track Club enjoyed a fantastic summer in large part due to the phenomenal coaching staff. Coach Kris shared, “It’s an honor to work with this dedicated and professional coaching staff. Throughout the summer, we shared many amazing memories with our athletes; qualifying meets in incredibly hot conditions, weekends away in Northern California, fun training sessions, and success at national JO’s. I’m proud of all of our athletes for their hard work this summer. I’m already looking ahead to the indoor season and next summer” For more information on the Lake Tahoe Track Club, please visit their website at www.laketahoetrackclub.com.
Star Follies Raises ~$70k for Incline Public Schools
The highly anticipated return of the Incline Star Follies made a spectacular return to Incline this past spring, captivating audiences with an unforgettable evening of talent and community spirit. Held at the Incline High School’s Duffield Theater, this year’s event marked a joyful reunion of performers, volunteers, and supporters, celebrating the resilience and creativity of the Incline Village community.
“We are thrilled to be back!,” said Katie Goldberg, one of the original Follies founders. “This event is not only a showcase of our community’s talent but also a testament to the hidden talent within our community. The commitment and hard work of the volunteer performers ensured that the Follies returned with a bang, rekindling the spirit of camaraderie and creativity in our town”.
The Follies also functions as a vital fundraising event for the Incline public schools. Thanks to a generous grant from the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation, which covered production costs, the event successfully raised nearly $70,000. These funds will be directed towards supporting the diverse programs offered by the Incline Education Fund.
Set your calendars for next year’s event on May 2nd and 3rd 2025.
