schools

Ever since we moved to South Lake Tahoe thirty eight years ago, we have been proud to call this city our home. Between our community spirit of caring and sharing, excellent schools, and the inspiring nature of the Lake and Mountains, we are truly fortunate to live in such a special place. We recently hosted our foreign exchange student from twenty years ago and we were proud to show him all of the community upgrades such as Heavenly Village, Lakeview Commons, Harrison Avenue, South Tahoe High School, and the new Whole Foods project.

Since escrow on Kingsbury Middle School fell through over a year ago, the school has remained vacant and unlisted at an annual cost of $45,000. Now the Douglas County School District is considering putting the property up for sale once again.

A new dock, breakwater, restaurant and beach pavilion will all be in place for the 2018 summer season at the Round Hill Pines Resort.

With demolition of the old structure nearly complete, work started last week on a new 3,000-square-foot facility overlooking the beach.

The new building will house a full commercial kitchen, retail space, restrooms, offices for the resort’s management and sales staff, and storage. The seating for the summer bar and grill will be in an open-air pavilion with retractable awnings.

Its time for the Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation's Food Fest on Saturday, October 7 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Hard Rock Tahoe Hotel and casino. This fundraiser raises funds for grants to support enrichment programs for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

Also a fun time, this year's Food Fest has a new twist, Silent Disco! Event goers can check out a headset tuned to the one of three varieties of music allowing everyone to dance to their own preferred tunes while letting conversations flow among the rest of the crowd.

Lots to do in South Lake Tahoe this weekend. Now that South Tahoe and Whittell High Schools had their homecoming games Friday night, the rest of the weekend can be filled with everything from helping feed local youth, buying mattresses or playing golf for the high school, honoring one of the City's first leaders and enjoying the annual Fire Fest.

Even with snow on roofs in South Lake Tahoe, it is possible to go solar. Learn more at the Liberty Utilities solar workshop on Saturday, September 23 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the South Lake Tahoe Library.

Utility representatives will be on hand to discuss various aspects of installing and using solar energy at homes and businesses.

Learn more about the Liberty Utilities Solar Incentive Program which provides cash incentives to offset the cost of installing panels. So far, 30 locals have applied for this program which is also available for schools in our community.

El Dorado County Assessor Karl Weiland today announced the assessed value of
all taxable property in El Dorado County increased by almost six percent from last year. The $31.5 billion property tax roll, which reflects the assessed value as of January 1st, 2017 is approximately $1.7 billion above last year’s assessed value of $29.8 billion.

The $31.5 billion dollar roll generates about $315 million in property taxes every year that support schools, public safety, local districts, cities and County government services.

As the world changes around South Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) is evolving to meet the new demands of education and the student body. As there is a decline in community college enrollment across the country, LTCC is being creative in recruitment of students to the campus and investing in not only the environment, but in removing barriers many have in getting a secondary education.

That was the message during Lake Tahoe Community College President Jeff DeFranco's first State of the College Address on Thursday.

There is no need to rush into an ordinance regulating the sale of marijuana in South Lake Tahoe. That was the overwhelming opinion of the SLT City Council Tuesday night after a special, four-hour long Cannabis Workshop.

"We owe it to our community to make sure we take every measure to protect them," said SLT Mayor Austin Sass.

It's back to the drawing board for the Douglas County School District (DCSD) Board of Trustees after they officially decided to not give Patrick Taylor and Lake Parkway LLC another extension in their effort to buy Kingsbury Middle School.

Citing no confidence in the buyer's ability to put a deal that can close together, the trustees voted unanimously to take the steps needed to put the old middle school back on the market.

"I think the School District made a poor decision today," Patrick Taylor of Lake Parkway LLC told South Tahoe Now. "They are very unrealistic."

Community support is needed to help the girls participating in "The Girl's Project," an empowerment group focusing on the needs of young women in the South Lake Tahoe area.

Tahoe Youth and Family Services started “The Girl’s Project” in 2010 with the vision to empower high risk young girls in our community to become more confident and influential women later in life. The Girl’s Project originally began in three of our local elementary schools, Tahoe Valley Elementary, Sierra House Elementary and Bijou Elementary and has now expanded and includes the South Tahoe Middle School.

LAKE TAHOE - The summer of 2017 is the 45th anniversary of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor. If you have never been, this should be the year. Sit in the sand and enjoy not only great productions on the Warren Edward Trepp Stage at water's edge, but also an eclectic food and beverage area (or bring your own).

Two shows will be on the stage, alternating nights, Tuesday-Sunday through August 27.

July kicks off the busiest time of the year for our city. Schools out, the temps are soaring in the valleys to the west and east of us, the roads are free of snow, and visitors from all over the world are getting away to see beautiful places and enjoy the great outdoors. For many of our businesses this is is the best time of the year. For many locals who like to play on the mountain trails and along the beach and eventually need to get to work, this is the hardest time of the year.

El Dorado County has become the state of California's 39th Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ). This is a new designation for South Lake Tahoe and Placerville that will combine recycling with economic development to fuel new businesses, expand existing ones, create jobs and divert waste from landfills.

“With this designation, our County has another arrow in our economic development quiver to attract new business and help existing businesses expand,” said Tiffany Schmid in the County’s Economic Development Division. “And it helps make El Dorado County a greener place to do business.”

Ryan Galles, the principal of Sierra House Elementary in South Lake Tahoe, has announced that he is leaving Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

Galles has accepted the position of Director of Elementary Education for the Vacaville Union School District (VUSD), a district with 12,000 students and 10 elementary schools.

A letter sent by Galles to the Sierra House parents on Friday, June 16:

The featured tellers at this year’s event are Willy Claflin, world music percussion band The Batamba Collective, Mother Lode Storytelling Guild tellers Linda Kennedy and Joan McCammon, and chautauquan Larry Lippmann as “Hank Monk”. The weekend also features early afternoon shows specifically for families and children, an open mic storytelling concert and a storytelling group Carson Valley Memories led by Nancy Raven.

Saturday, June 24 starts at 1:00pm with a Family Concert with Willy Claflin. Clafliin is a nationally recognized teller. Check out his website at http://www.willyclaflin.com/

Location

It is that time of year again. It is time for the youth in our beautiful community to take the big plunge. We, the members of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Education wish to congratulate each and every member of South Tahoe High School and Mount Tallac High School class of 2017 for all their hard work, not just for the last 4 years, but for the last 12. We are deeply proud of our seniors, and we hope that moving forward you never forget the closeness and care of a community like South Lake Tahoe.

It wasn't your typical high school class at Tahoe Forest Hospital Wednesday. Approximately 60 students enrolled in advanced placement biology and human body systems classes scrubbed in to witness a total knee replacement surgery on a cadaver in the University of Nevada's advanced surgical lab at their North Shore location.

Adventure Mountain owners Jim and Linda Mueller are long time and enthusiastic supporters of Bread & Broth’s Monday Meal.

“Bread & Broth is a great organization serving delicious meals to the South Lake Tahoe community,” commented Jim. “Adventure Mountain and our family always enjoys helping out such a great organization and getting to spend time with our community members.”

It was a family/business affair with sons Max and Luke and long time friend and Adventure Mountain retail supervisor Cathy Vogelgesang completing the Adopt A Day sponsorship crew.

The South Tahoe Vikings Swim Team has had a successful year and eleven of the school's swimmers will head to the Nevada State swim competition on May 20 at the Carson Aquatic Swim Center.

During the 3-A Northern Regionals on May 12-13, 24 Viking swimmers qualified to compete, and both the boys and girls teams came in second overall out of eight teams in the region.

Results for STHS in finals during Northern Regionals for 3A schools:

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) didn't give South Tahoe High and the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) the results expected after a WASC accreditation team visited South Lake Tahoe in the Spring of 2016.

Instead of an expected six-year term they received a two-year accreditation which goes through June of 2018. On March 19 and 20 of that year a team of educators will return to the campus and evaluate recommended changes.

Tahoe Arts Project is inviting the community to attend their Bert's Spaghetti Night on May 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The cost is just $10 per person and includes spaghetti, Caesar salad, garlic bread, soda and coffee. There will also be a bake sale and wine available for a donation.

Tickets are available for purchase at Session's Salon at 3320 Sandy Way in South Lake Tahoe, at Bert's Cafe prior to the event (1146 Emerald Bay Rd in SLT) or by calling Tahoe Arts Project at 530.542.3632.

There will be a limited number of tickets available at the door.

The Barton Foundation is giving $40,000 in grants to improve community health. Local non-profits, health organizations, schools, and public agencies are encouraged to apply for funding.

The Barton Health Grants provide funds for programs and organizations that positively impact the health of the South Tahoe community. In this grant cycle, projects and programs that address mental health, substance abuse, and access to healthcare services will be considered. These three issues were identified as the most pressing health needs in South Lake Tahoe’s 2015 Community Health Needs Assessment.

Bread & Broth 4 Kids (BB4K) is holding their popular Cram-a-Cruiser food drive at South Lake Tahoe’s Grocery Outlet on Saturday, May 6, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.