Summary:
ZIP code 89448 covers Zephyr Cove, a small community on the east shore of Lake Tahoe in Douglas County, Nevada, and contains just two public schools serving 292 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade: Zephyr Cove Elementary School (PK–5, 153 students) and George Whittell High School (grades 6–12, 139 students), both part of the Douglas County School District. There is no stand-alone middle school here — George Whittell serves as both the middle school and the high school, and the two campuses sit side by side.
Both schools score above their district and their state. Zephyr Cove Elementary reports 59.2% proficiency in reading and 46.0% in math, with 3rd grade at 66.6% in both subjects — well above state levels — and its state rank climbed from 136th to 71st of 376 schools. George Whittell reports a 91.6% graduation rate and 53.5% proficiency in end-of-course science, roughly double Nevada's 26.5%, along with 48% in 8th grade science and 65% in 7th grade reading. In every subject with a reported score, both schools beat the district and state.
Two cautions stand out for families. Chronic absenteeism is high at both schools — 26.2% at the elementary and 29.8% at the high school — above both district and state rates, meaning roughly three in ten high school students are regularly absent. George Whittell also saw scores decline from the prior year in math, reading, and science, though it still outperforms benchmarks. Several grade-level scores are suppressed by the state and remain unknown, and because both schools are small, year-to-year changes are better read as trends than exact figures. The high school spends $28,390 per student versus $17,962 at the elementary school.
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