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. 

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“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.” 

The final stop was Incline Elementary School. 

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“And then we get to close it off with a visit here at our elementary school,” Ernst said. “This is just a wonderful environment. So as a first-year superintendent having a chance to come up to Incline and see all the great things that are occurring gets me excited. And I know our staff is excited to have our students and our families back. And I think we’re really looking forward to a great year.” 

The delegation included state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert, WCSD Deputy Superintendent Tiffany McMaster, WCSD Associate Chief Melynda Baker, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam, WCSD Chief of Police Tracy Moore, and WCSD Chief Operation Officer Adam Searcy. 

Incline Middle School 

“We got lots of smiles this morning,” said Principal Daniel Lediard during his briefing to officials. 

“Things are going well,” Lediard added. “We’ve got 52 6th graders, the largest class in about 5 years. We lost (to graduation) 51 8th graders last year.” 

He added there are 29 7th graders and 48 8th graders, seven more students than last year. 

Students visited in May to tour the school, meet their teachers, and practice their lockers. 

“Incline schools are the first kindergarten through 12th grade vertically aligned STEM system in Nevada,” Lediard said. “And that began last year when we (Incline Middle School) got our STEM designation. So we’re really, really proud.” 

Lediard explained a STEM school goes beyond offering STEM courses. 

“Everything is hands on,” Lediard said. “Students are coming up with their own ideas, researching them, finding solutions to everyday problems outside of the school with a little guidance from the teachers.” 

“That’s what our school encompasses,” Lediard explained. “It is student led, student driven, student focused.” 

On Wednesdays, the students have exploratory classes that expose the 6th through 8th graders to college and career interests. This year these classes are being entirely taught by community members. 

Incline Middle School has also partnered with Incline High School to offer more in-depth instruction on robotics, artificial intelligence, and food and culture. 

The school has winter snow safety, avalanche training, and training and snow culture classes. 

That’s “because we live in Tahoe and we want to make sure everybody’s safe,” Lediard said. 

In addition, there are free swimming classes for students who don’t know how to swim. 

“We’re really incorporating our ecology and our lifestyle at the Tahoe level to expand on our exploratory classes,” Lediard said. 

Ernst commented, “That’s nice, that’s nice. You’re really tapping into the community and making the community part of the education experience. That sounds great!” 

Lediard said there’s a licensed teacher in every classroom. 

“On that note, we are struggling, all three schools up here are struggling … with 1-to-1 aides,” Lediard said. “… Our struggle is with classified positions this year. Plenty of teachers … we need some help with classified.” 

Ernst replied that it is a district-wide area of need. 

Lediard then gave the group a tour of the music room, robotics area, and food/culture room. 

Incline High School 

“We’re very excited to have you … our ambassadors here will give you a tour,” said Principal Tierney Cahill as she welcomed the officials. “… We have a lot of new stuff in the building that’s beautiful.” 

The additions include new furniture, workspaces, and an expansion. 

Then Cahill introduced the student ambassadors, senior Pearl Carle and junior Alynne Chavez Estrada who led the campus tour. It included AP Government, a personalized learning academy, AP Precalculus, and engineering classes. 

Cahill said there are about 290 students so far this year. Seventy percent of our kids are athletes, Cahill told Ernst. 

Last year there were 304 students, but “we go up and down.” 

Construction Manager John Collins with Pre-Construction Services Group gave a briefing on the 12,000-square-foot addition to the school. 

“In addition to the expansion, we also incorporated security improvements that you guys walked through this morning,” Collins said. “So we have a single-point entry … there’s a new security feature on all the exterior doors on the existing school that were active for the start of this school year.” 

The campus was upgraded to modern standards. 

The expansion is three floors. It will house the JROTC, a dance studio, a classroom, a culinary center, and a commercial kitchen. 

“The culinary classroom will actually have monitors above each work station so the kids can watch whoever is teaching the class actually preparing ingredients,” Collins explained. They’ll be able to see “what they’re doing with their hands, and how they’re moving so they can get a more interactive experience.” 

The third floor will have a student hub with couches, chairs, meeting areas, and work rooms with audio-visual. It should be finished in February. 

Incline Elementary School 

As the delegation walked into the lobby, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Ebert said, “I’ve never seen that before.” 

Painted on the wall was “Teach Peace.” 

Principal Jeana Curtis said there are 252 students this year. It increased by two from last school year. 

The morning “went really smooth,” said Curtis who came out of retirement to lead the elementary school. “Parents were here walking their kids into the building. They were really excited. I was able to meet a lot of them. It’s going to be a great year.” 

Then Curtis gave a tour, going into multiple classes and interacting with the students.

Curtis also pointed out the peek of Lake Tahoe view from a window overlooking the playground. 

“That’s a pretty sweet outdoor space,” said Searcy. 

As the tour wrapped up, Curtis described the day as going smoothly. 

“This is a well-oiled machine,” Curtis said. “I am just lucky to be working with them … I am looking forward to meeting more parents and the community.”