Preparing Scorpions for College, Career, and Life: How Sage Ridge Students Learn to Balance Excellence

At Sage Ridge School, academic rigor is only one part of the equation. Just as important is teaching students how to navigate that rigor while pursuing the passions, responsibilities, and opportunities that make them well-rounded young adults. From the earliest grades, Scorpions learn executive functioning, time management, organization, and self-advocacy—skills that become essential as their academic and extracurricular worlds grow more complex.

You can see these skills in action across campus and far beyond it.

Take Rhys Ferrito ’29, who recently set new records and qualified for two Triathlon World Championships at just 14, Daisy Brown ‘31, who competed in the Oct. 25 Napa Valley Fall Triathlon at the Sprint distance and earned 3rd place in her age group, and Katy Illg ‘27 and Megan Hansen ‘29, for their team win at the Mixed Jr. Coastal Quad Crew race on the short course at the North Tahoe Regatta. Behind these achievements are students who know how to organize demanding training schedules around an equally demanding academic load. 

The same is true for Isabella Ramos Honens '30, one of only 90 dancers nationwide accepted into Ballet West’s prestigious 5-Week Summer Intensive, earning both a scholarship and high praise from ballet icon Evelyn Cisneros. And for Nevada State Swimming Champions swimmers Ashton Brenner ’29, Lily Flynn’30, Isaac Mannering ‘30, Alisa Kazakova,’30, Daisy Brown ‘31, Natalie Heller ‘31, and Theo Stack ’32, strong executive functioning isn’t an add-on—it’s what makes elite training possible amid an accelerated curriculum.

This ability to balance challenging academics with high-level pursuits is not limited to athletics. 

It shows up in service, leadership, and early professional exploration as well. Owen Brandt ‘30 has grown from a curious Discovery Museum camper into a Teen Assistant who leads activities and supports younger campers, experiences that require initiative, maturity, and the confidence to manage responsibilities. Ethan Wu ’24, who earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award for completing 285 hours of service in a single year and is now a Sophomore at  Emory University, pursuing a degree in field of Neurology, balanced his work with the Trauma Intervention Program of Northern Nevada alongside a full academic schedule and extracurricular commitments. 

“At Sage Ridge, we purposefully teach students how to manage complexity and thrive,” says Dr. Ginger Hovenic, Head of School. “From Lower School through Upper School, grade one through 12, students build the executive functioning skills that allow them to balance rigorous coursework with athletics, arts, leadership, and service. These are the habits that prepare them not only for college, but for the responsibilities and opportunities they’ll navigate throughout their lives.”

By the time they graduate, Scorpions have already rehearsed the balancing act that college—and life—require. In a supportive environment with the best student-to-faculty ratios in Reno-Tahoe, students learn not only how to meet high expectations but how to manage competing demands with confidence and purpose. Their achievements, whether in the classroom, on the field, on the stage, or in the community, reflect the same underlying capability: young people who know how to learn, how to plan, how to adapt, and how to thrive.

And that may be the most powerful preparation of all.