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As we enter into another holiday season, CLHS has much to be proud of and thankful for. In the 2010-2011 academic year, our students outscored the state in every test that was given in reading, writing, math, and science. This is due to the outstanding partnership between the extremely professional and competent staff, the hard work of our students, the support from our parents and the strong over-all community commitment. All of our school sites made their Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) targets. Over 50 percent of the school districts across the state cannot say they have accomplished this. This is something that we are extremely proud of and thankful for.

Our North Central Accreditation (NCA) process is building a stronger community of learners among our 2011-2012 staff. We are in the midst of Professional Learning Groups that are problem solving, action planning and evaluating instruction for increasing student achievement in math. From best practices and research, working with peers from across the content areas will hopefully gain higher achievement results. During the 2010-2011 school year, we followed a similar plan and we were able to surpass state levels on our MCA-II Math test. Our proficiency scores improved from 43.5 percent in 2010 to 61.19 percent. The staff at CLHS is proud of this accomplishment and are more determined this year to continue to positively impact student growth in math.

To earn accreditation, schools must meet NCA's high standards, be evaluated by a team of professionals from outside the school and implement a continuous school improvement plan focused on increasing student performance based on data and research. The accreditation process is voluntary and requires annual review. NCA accreditation demonstrates to our students, parents, and community that we are focused on raising achievement, providing a safe and enriching learning environment, and maintaining an efficient and effective operation staffed by highly qualified educators. It assures parents that our school is meeting regionally and nationally accepted standards for quality and successful professional practices.

With our current improvement cycle, CLHS has the goal of raising student math achievement across the curriculum areas. Staff development activities will focus on math strategies of problem solving, analytical, and quantitative thinking, assessment and interventions.

Staff members have been sharing their expertise in professional learning groups and have written action plans.

Continuing in our celebration are our highly successful fall activities. The fall musical, "Hello Dolly" was a delight for the Chisago Lakes community to be proud of. Congratulations to musical directors Dave Seaburg and Bridget Budig and to the entire cast and crew.

Our athletic teams gave us much to be thankful about as well, as we competed in the North Suburban Conference and various sections this fall. The football, volleyball, girls tennis, girls and boys soccer, girls swimming and diving and both the girls and boys cross-country provided much enjoyment. Congratulations to all of our fall participants and good luck to the winter teams and clubs as they move into their opening practices and competitions.

All the school sites in District 2144 have their own achievements to be "proud of" and "thankful for". We wish to thank the students, staff, district administration, Board of Education, parents and the community for their outstanding support of Chisago Lakes High School. It is through these partnerships that we are able to bring a high quality educational experience to our students.

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