The Lake of the Sky Report | Fall 2004 | Volume 1
		Coming Events Community Profile Featured Property History Agent Bio Local's Guide Wellness Connection Featured Recipe Tahoe Sierra R.E.A. Home Back to Newsletter Home		School Days in Early Tahoe An Excerpt from an article by Kayse Kelly Life was different for school age children in early Tahoe. Children and their mothers would leave the area in the winter, and attend a school in the foothills or valley. One winter in 1894, Constable Robert Watson didn't want his family to leave, so he arranged with the County to have a school. The first classes were held in an old blacksmith shop at the lake end of Grove Street. By 1906 there were so many children that a larger building was needed. The Bliss family donated 10 acres of land (where the present school is located) for the new building. The residents were so excited to have a larger school, that with help from the Tahoe Tavern carpenters, the school was built in one day! The women helped by fixing lunches for all the workers. Children were called to class by the bell from the old Glenbrook narrow gauge steam engine. Due to the winter conditions, students attended school from March to mid-December. After Miss. Smart, then Miss. Lyons retired, Mrs. Gallinger became the teacher. She had many new and creative ideas, which included field trips to local points of interest and to destinations as far away as San Francisco and Mt. Lassen. Many of her students had never been out of the Tahoe Basin before. In 1935, a new school opened just downhill form the original building. There were now 55 students. By 1951 there were 68 K-8 students and three teachers at Tahoe Lake! With snow removal becoming more dependable, the school year was changed to a September - June schedule. However, when the first snow fell, many Emerald Bay and Meeks Bay students would return to the "flatland" schools, returning in the spring. In the late 1950's, a south wing was added, and in 1964 a large classroom addition was finished on the north end. Tahoe Lake's K-8 format was changed when a new middle school in the Highlands was opened in the early 1970's. The Gatekeeper's Museum in Tahoe City features a display of 1920's desks from the Tahoe Lake School. Many of Myrtle Gallinger's photos are available for re-print. The Museum is open weekends in October from 11am - 3pm. (530) 583-1762 www.northtahoemuseums.org