New Principal named at South Tahoe Middle School

When current South Tahoe Middle School Principal Beth Delacour retires in June she is leaving the school in the capable hands of John Simons. Simons (pronounced sim-mons) was introduced at Tuesday evening's Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board meeting.

Simons is relocating to South Lake Tahoe from Oakdale, CA where he has been principal at the community's middle school for the past seven years. Prior to that he served as the school's vice-principal for three years.

The Humboldt State University graduate and his wife Amy, a school teacher, stopped by the meeting along with their son Cody and Cody's girlfriend Deanne Doyal. Cody is in his first year at Lake Tahoe Community College's Fire Academy.

Simons said Oakdale and South Lake Tahoe are very similar in the number of schools and tight-knit community. The big difference? "Oakdale is the cowboy capital of the West," he said. He and Amy had to get back to Oakdale right after the meeting as they both have school in the morning.

"We're looking forward to being in South Lake Tahoe," Simons added.