-Katrina Mayer

Hello TEA Families,

We are excited to share two important documents with you. First, we have finalized our 2026-27 School Year Important Dates. You can access it as a PDF HERE.

Please take special note of a few things:

You may hear us referencing the TEA Chairlift Topics in the coming weeks. This is our shared language for talking about what makes TEA distinct and why families choose to be here. We designed this one sheet to help guide those casual, organic conversations that happen on chairlifts, sidelines, or playgrounds.

This isn’t a script or a pitch; it’s a framework to help families share their own authentic stories about TEA, rooted in our values, program differentiators, and the lived experience of your children. We’re doing this because our most powerful ambassadors have always been you. Word of mouth matters deeply, and nothing resonates more than a parent or caregiver speaking from personal experience.

If a friend or stranger asks why your family chose TEA or why you’ve stayed, we invite you to think about the story you would tell. Your voice helps shape how TEA is understood in the wider community and can help grow our enrollment! Consider printing off a copy and leaving it someplace where you can review it occasionally. Thank you in advance!

Last week, you received an email from Andy Giordano inviting you to attend our Senior Capstone Presentations on April 15 and 16. These evenings are certain to be inspiring and informative and our seniors will greatly appreciate having an engaged and enthusiastic audience!   

At Tahoe Expedition Academy, Senior Capstone is a culminating graduation requirement that asks students to demonstrate what they truly know by applying their learning to a real-world problem that matters to them. Through an independent, interest-driven process supported by teachers, mentors, and community experts, seniors design and propose a project, conduct rigorous research and fieldwork, and become emerging experts in their chosen topic. 

Students synthesize their learning in a formal research paper, create a high-quality final product that serves a purpose beyond themselves, and present their work to the TEA community. With 19 seniors this year, the range of topics is sincerely impressive, from the science behind productivity, to the ethics of AI in creative industries, to issues of workforce housing, glacial recession and the impact of social media algorithms on the spread of biased information in news consumption – they are tackling projects near and far and collecting data all over the world.

An invite with RSVP will be sent in March, but we wanted to get these evenings on your calendars now.

Letters of Intent for the 2026–27 school year are due this Friday, February 13, 2026. This non-binding form helps TEA plan for enrollment, staffing, and financial aid. Please submit your letter on time, as space and aid are limited. You can check out this post for full details and next steps.

As always, feel free to reach out to our Admissions Team with any questions via email: admissions@tahoeexpeditionacademy.org, or call (530) 513–6226.

Tahoe Expedition Academy has TEAmed up with the Tahoe Knight Monsters to co-host a special fundraising evening at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. Puck drops at 7:00 PM on Saturday, March 28.

The Tahoe Knight Monsters are a professional minor league hockey team affiliated with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, making Nevada uniquely represented across the NHL, AHL, and ECHL.

By purchasing tickets through TEA’s dedicated fundraising link, families receive discounted tickets and 20% of every ticket sold comes directly back to TEA, supporting student programs, access to education, and hands-on experiential learning.

Bring friends, invite colleagues, and share the link with local businesses; every seat helps make a difference. Let’s fill the stands and raise funds together!

TEA’s Association of Parents get together every month to support our teachers and staff, receive updates from the leadership team, the Board of Trustees, plan CommuniTEA events, and ensure a bright future for our students. Do not miss our next meeting on March 9 at 8:45 a.m. at the Truckee Tahoe Airport or virtually via Zoom. 

Interim Head of School Christopher reported positive student retention numbers for next year and stressed the importance of TEA student/parent ambassadors to connect and inform the greater community. Everyone is encouraged to invite friends and families to our upcoming Alumni Panel Night (2/25), Senior Capstone Presentations (4/15- 4/16), Grandparents Day (5/15) and The Rainbow Run (5/31). These are excellent opportunities to get involved, showcase our CommuniTEA and have a blast. Oh, and enter your design for the Rainbow Run tee shirt contest by March 2!

Lower School Pizza Day is THIS Wednesday, February 11 and Upper School Pizza Day is 2/26. Treat yourself and let TAP deliver a hot lunch to your kiddos. For just $10 or $12, your student(s) will get 2 slices of cheese or pepperoni (or one of each) pizza, a fizzy water and a piece of fruit. 

Finally, our "Mom’s Vegas Weekend" is full blown! We have booked out the Four Seasons but don’t despair, TAP President and Travel Luxury Extraordinaire can still get you VIP access to hotel, dinners, pool cabana, shows, and you don’t need to be a mom! It’s an all inclusive TEA tradition.

Contact kim@thekb-collective.com and we hope to see you there!

Caiden Reitter, a junior at TEA, performed this past Saturday at the University of Nevada, Reno for the Jazz in Schools program, one of many moments that reflect his deep commitment to music and learning. Caiden is a wonderful example of what it looks like to pursue a passion seriously while balancing the demands of school.

While attending TEA, Caiden is also taking coursework at Sierra College, participates in TEA’s High School Rock Band, and continues an impressive musical life beyond campus. His love of music began early. At just five years old, he asked to take violin lessons, which he continued for five years while also learning the cello. In seventh grade, he picked up the saxophone and found his musical home.

For the past two years, Caiden has secured one of just two tenor saxophone spots in the highly competitive Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra. Last month, he traveled with the orchestra to New Orleans to attend the Jazz Education Network conference, where the group performed and participated in workshops led by some of the most respected musicians in the jazz world.

Beyond formal instruction, Caiden is a deeply intuitive musician. He plays piano by ear without lessons and has recently begun building a jazz vinyl collection. Music is how Caiden listens, learns, and connects with the world.

He also enjoys exchanging ideas and talking music with TEA’s Spanish and Art Teacher Ana Remis, who shares his enthusiasm for jazz exploration, and is pictured with him in the photo on the right!

Caiden’s journey reflects TEA’s commitment to supporting students who want to take risks and pursue excellence across disciplines. His ability to balance rigorous academics, college coursework, and an ambitious musical life speaks to both his discipline and his joy. We’re proud to celebrate Caiden and look forward to seeing where his music takes him next.

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