“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."

TEA’s 6th grade crew faced one of their hardest challenges yet: persevering four days at an iced-over Camp Richardson.

In addition to guzzling hot chocolate and apple cider, the group of 16—led by faculty Steven and Brooke, and corralled by Adventure Guides Emma and Liam—spent their days wading in Taylor Creek to study stream ecology, and trekking up to Grass Lake in Desolation Wilderness to learn about the watershed. They were also the first class to be at League to Save Lake Tahoe’s education center!

As they huddled around the campfire on the last night, a deeper sense of the class’s camaraderie was evident as they recalled tales from the week in between bites of hard-won s'mores.

Learn more and sign up to help or donate items HERE!

It is never too soon to start shopping for end of the year gifts. The TEA Swag store is open, and featuring a few, fun new hats which are sure to top everyone’s gift lists. Click HERE to view our featured items.

Place your order by November 21st and we will have them ready for you by December 18th, right before the start of Winter Break. 

If you prefer to shop in person, stop by our pop-up store outside the Marketing and Events connex on Thursday, October 30th before and after the Big Pumpkin Race between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

TEA extends a heartfelt thanks to this year’s Annual Giving Campaign Ambassadors for generously stepping up to lead the charge!

Huge thanks to: Karen Mizell, Kailen Dickson, Danielle Gwak, Nikki Price, Jen Lunney, Jayme Kasman, Kim Burns, Jessica Menasco, Amy Renn, Chris Atley and Traci Mason. 

They will be rallying their fellow parents between December 2 and December 16, aiming for 100% participation from each class.

The 5th grade still needs an enthusiastic ambassador to join the team. If you are willing to lend a hand, please contact Courtenay.

Upper School Pizza Day is Thursday, October 30th. Sign up here!

Students can enjoy two slices of pizza, fresh fruit, and sparkling water for $10. Please place orders by Wednesday, October 29 at noon.

TAP meets on the second Monday of each month at 8:45 a.m. in the Truckee Airport conference room. All parents and guardians are automatically members and encouraged to join. Meetings are streamed live via Zoom and recorded for later viewing. The next meeting is Monday, November 10; register here to attend virtually!

Join us on Friday, November 14, at 3:30 p.m., at Alibi Truckee for one of TEA’s best parTEAs! Come play, compete for fun prizes and snag some sweet TEA swag! It's all just $5 per person for unlimited games. RSVP HERE!

We were born and grew up in Zimbabwe (John 'Ox' Oxley) and South Africa (Carol 'Callie' Freeman) respectively and first met while both studying at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. After college we both made our way independently to London, England where we rekindled our friendship, fell in love and eventually got married. Shortly thereafter, we moved to the United States where our son Malcolm was born, followed by his little sister MacKenzie two years later. Truckee has been our home for over 5 years and snow sports, camping, biking, hiking and underwater hockey occupy all our time.

Malcolm is a curious and inquisitive child who loves to understand how things work. His thirst for knowledge and imagination know no bounds and we chose TEA because we wanted an environment where this quest for knowledge would be prioritised beyond a general scholastic syllabus.

TEA's focus on character development is the biggest draw for us. Teaching our children to act with integrity, empathy and responsibility are as important to us as anything else they may learn from a book. The adventure quotient of TEA's approach is tailor made for our family. Malcolm has endless energy and hasn't found an activity yet that he doesn't want to try. A jack of all trades, and a master of none, Malcolm is currently finding ways to 'earn' a new skateboard to join his mountain bike, skis and scooter. He has recently started jiu jitsu and is proud to have just been awarded his first 'strip.'

Like so many other families who were drawn to Tahoe and have been lucky enough to make it our home, we are grateful to have the opportunity to be able to give our children the freedom and safety of a feral childhood. We love to travel and are always planning our next adventure. Whether we're back-country camping locally at Long Lake with our fetch-obsessed chocolate labrador 'Toast,' or visiting the Edinburgh Fringe festival in Scotland, we never miss an opportunity to make exciting memories.

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