Glowing reviews for South Tahoe High as accreditation team finishes visit

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The three member visiting accreditation committee from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) finished up their review at South Tahoe High School (STHS) today, parting with very positive comments about their experience.

"It is amazing what I've seen in two years," said Cheryl Townsend, Director of The Reach School in Sebastapol, Calif., and the only member of the accreditation team that originally reviewed the school in 2016. "There is a great level of intensity and quality at this school, give yourselves a hand."

Townsend was joined by Michael Shroyer, Assistant Principal at James C. Enochs High School in Modesto, Calif., and Constance Oliver, a retired teacher from Linden High School outside of Modesto on the committee.

A gathered group of teachers, Lake Tahoe Unified School Board members and administration, as well as students and staff were at the STHS library to hear the news Tuesday afternoon.

"Kudos to your district office, your new principal is doing an incredible job," added Townsend.

She acknowledged the teachers for the new culture and collaboration needed to meet the desired direction after the WASC review in 2016 placed the only high school in South Lake Tahoe on a two-year probationary accreditation.

"Well done," added Townsend.

"The highlight was seeing the community involvement," said Shroyer. He said he was going to take some of what he'd seen at STHS and take back to his school and try to implement.

"I'm excited for the community and the staff," said Lake Tahoe Unified School District Superintendent Dr. James Tarwater said of the WASC team's comments. "The community invests in a bond with high hopes and we owe it to them and the kids."

While their report was glowing, they did give the school three recommendations for improvements along with their top three accolades.

To work on: Create new action plan items since most were through 2018 and they want to see the next plan through 2024, continue professional development and extend it through a period of time and not just one or two workshops a year, and continue to develop the "Viking Graduate" profile with measurable directives.

The top three accolades are: The 20/20 Vision Plan which has involved the community and other stakeholders, the requested Code of Conduct that is evident throughout the school, and an increase in stakeholder involvement and not just the parents.

"This has been an incredible journey," said STHS Principal Carline Sinkler. She said she was looking forward to continuing the momentum.

While the visiting committee still has final recommendation steps to follow, and the final WASC decision likely won't be until June, the visiting committee presented a written report on their probationary visit to staff.

"A positive school culture was repeatedly observed throughout the visit across all stakeholders groups. Parents report feeling more welcomed to participate in meaningful ways. All VC (visiting committee) members met with students who reported feeling very positive about their opportunities for learning as well as high levels of connectedness to their teachers and principal. Teachers spoke very highly of the opportunities they've been given by the district and their principal to update the curriculum and to receive training in innovative teaching strategies. The momentum for positive and substantive change was a pleasure to observe," was stated on the report.

At this point the school must wait for the offical decision to come from WASC and it can be any of three outcomes, though today's exit review sounds very postive. Best cast scenario is a six year accreditation that started in 2016. If this is the cast, the WASC team would start their mid-stream evaluation in 2019. They can also come back with a continuation of their probation, or discontinue accreditation.

In Photo of the local WASC accreditation team: Left to Right: Debbie Fabino, Math Department Co-Chair, Bob Grant, LTUSD Career Technical Education and Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator, Ivonne Larson, retired Assistant Superintendent and former principal STHS and WASC team coordinator, Principal Carline Sinkler, Frank Kovac, STHS AVID teacher, Maria Luquin LTUSD EL/AVID/TWBI Coordinator, Timothy Wright, Foreign Language Department Chair, English Department Chair Bridey Heidel, and Nancy Dalton, Co-Chair of the Math Department.