Best Public Schools in South Lake Tahoe, CA

Summary:

The city of South Lake Tahoe, California is home to 9 schools that serve students from elementary through high school, all part of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. While the district as a whole is ranked 761 out of 1,560 school districts in California, there is a wide range of performance among the individual schools.

The standout school in the district is Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet, an elementary school that ranks 721 out of 5,848 California elementary schools and has a 4-star rating. It significantly outperforms the district and state averages in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science, while also having the lowest chronic absenteeism rate and lowest percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients among the elementary schools. In contrast, the district's alternative high schools, Mt. Tallac High and Blue Ridge, struggle with much lower performance metrics compared to the main high school, South Tahoe High.

The data also reveals a potential correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement, with the elementary schools having the highest percentages of free/reduced lunch recipients, Tahoe Valley Elementary and Sierra House Elementary, also performing the lowest on test scores. Overall, the Lake Tahoe Unified School District has room for improvement, but the standout performance of Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet demonstrates the potential for excellence within the district.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2023)				Ranking (2022)				CAST Science (2023)					Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2023)								Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2023)								% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Polio (2022)	% Varicella (2022)	% DTP (2022)	% MMR (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2023)	Statewide Rank (2023)	State Percentile (2023)	SchoolDigger Rating (2023)	Average Standard Score (2022)	Statewide Rank (2022)	State Percentile (2022)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science 10th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science End of Course	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy End of Course	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics End of Course	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% Varicella KG	% DTP KG	% MMR KG	Total
South Tahoe Middle	Public	6-8	2940 Lake Tahoe Blvd.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 541-6404	798	39	20.6	52.1%	344 (43.1%)	5 (0.6%)	392 (49.1%)	29 (3.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (3.1%)	43.4	1362^nd of 2802 public middle schools	51.4%		40	1461^st of 2740 public middle schools	46.7%	99		29.1			29.1				35.7	42.1	41.3		39.7				28.4	21.7	26.3		25.4						$11,161
Tahoe Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	943 Tahoe Island Dr.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 543-2350	414	20	20.7	56.8%	183 (44.2%)	0 (0.0%)	182 (44.0%)	18 (4.3%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	28 (6.8%)	25.2	4344^th of 5874 public elementary schools	26.0%		27.1	4141^st of 5883 public elementary schools	29.6%	203	24.5				24.5	29.3	28.6	26.4					28.1	30.5	20.4	15.4					22.5	84.1	87.4	85.4	86.1	86.1	$10,384
Sierra House Elementary	Public	K-5	1709 Remington Trail	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 543-2327	410	19	21.2	56.3%	188 (45.9%)	0 (0.0%)	176 (42.9%)	22 (5.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (5.1%)	62	1959^th of 5874 public elementary schools	66.6%		65.7	1795^th of 5883 public elementary schools	69.5%	164	50.9				50.9	53.7	42.3	60.0					51.3	53.7	32.4	35.7					40.7	91.8	96.7	91.8	96.7	95.1	$11,689
Meyers Elementary	Public	K-5	1095 San Bernardino Ave.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 543-2371	360	16	22.5	20.6%	264 (73.3%)	1 (0.3%)	56 (15.6%)	11 (3.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	26 (7.2%)	89.7	728^th of 5874 public elementary schools	87.6%		88	808^th of 5883 public elementary schools	86.3%	80	68.6				68.6	70.2	56.6	76.5					67.8	74.6	65.4	62.8					68.2	92.4	95.5	95.5	93.9	93.9	$11,908
Elevated Digital Learning Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1201 Lyons Ave.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 541-2850	56	8	7.4	50.0%	25 (44.6%)	2 (3.6%)	18 (32.1%)	1 (1.8%)	3 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (10.7%)								(n/a)		23.5			30.4				30.8	25.0	31.3		33.9				15.4	30.8	17.7		24.1
Blue Ridge	Public, Alternative	K-12	1041 Al Tahoe Blvd.	South Lake Tahoe	95610	Sacramento County	El Dorado County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 541-4126	7	1	7.0		5 (71.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (28.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																											$20,688
Bijou Community	Public	K-5	3501 Spruce Ave.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 543-2337	420	18	23.3	50.2%	131 (31.2%)	1 (0.2%)	273 (65.0%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.6%)	37.1	3346^th of 5874 public elementary schools	43.0%		28.4	4000^th of 5883 public elementary schools	32.0%	654	32.2				32.2	25.0	48.2	47.4					39.4	23.9	28.6	20.3					24.2	92.8			95.7		$12,055
Mt. Tallac High	Public	9-12	1735 Lake Tahoe Blvd.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 543-2264	49	4	12.5	67.3%	14 (28.6%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (63.3%)	2 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.1%)	12.2	1939^th of 2348 public high schools	17.4%		12.7	1887^th of 2123 public high schools	11.1%	52				9.1	13.3							14.3	14.3							0.0	0.0						$15,234
South Tahoe High	Public	9-12	1735 Lake Tahoe Blvd.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 541-4111	1,141	59	19.5	42.4%	505 (44.3%)	2 (0.2%)	528 (46.3%)	50 (4.4%)	6 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	43 (3.8%)	57	715^th of 2348 public high schools	69.5%		53.2	869^th of 2123 public high schools	59.1%	154			27.1	28.3	27.5							54.7	54.7							25.3	25.3						$14,776

Cities Near South Lake Tahoe

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Markleeville	14.73 mi	3
Kyburz	16.83 mi	1
Olympic Valley	20.48 mi	2	1^st
Tahoe City	20.68 mi	3	164^th
Kings Beach	24.48 mi	1	191^st

See the top CA California cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.