Welcome back to Norman Nation. As I enter my senior year at Beverly Hills High School, I look back and marvel at how the time does fly. The freshman class and I arrived together, three years ago, though it seems like only yesterday. The accomplishments we have enjoyed together have been amazing. This graduating class will always hold a special place in my heart and, while my farewell address to them in June will be bittersweet, I will also be so proud of that which they will have accomplished over four years. I am confident, that upon graduation, they will exit these hallowed halls with the ability to be lifelong learners and productive members of society.

 

In fact, it is not just the senior class that is special. This year, the junior, sophomore and freshmen classes are simply extraordinary. This is a testament to the parents, former teachers and, of course, to the students themselves. This entire high school student body has enjoyed enormous academic and personal success thus far in their educational journey - and the best is yet to come. I am looking forward to a very productive year.

 

Last year, I called a challenge to our students, staff and parents. After two years of a somewhat laissez-faire attitude toward the standardized testing program, I felt that we simply were not making the gains in our achievement scores. I also knew that this trend was primarily due to attitudinal issues, and not because our students and teachers weren't capable. Therefore, I asked all students, parents and teachers to put their best foot forward in order to show the world exactly what it means to be a member of Beverly High. I was absolutely confident that with our great staff and student body - the greatest anywhere, we could and should show better results. With that, we spent an entire year focusing on taking pride in our achievement.

 

I am ecstatic to report that the results of our effort have been nothing short of sensational. Our Academic Performance Index, or API - the score by which we are ranked as a school, soared from a respectable score of 805 to an outstanding score of 847. Our API jumped 42 points! This gain is among the greatest gain of any high school in the state of California. I am so proud to be a part of such incredible success.

 

Beyond the test scores, we continue this year to improve programs. We have added support classes for various academic areas, added intervention periods to the bell schedule, and increased instructional minutes in order to enhance academic success. We have successfully launched an ethics program and have raised standards to ensure that all students who matriculate will have had an opportunity to be eligible for admission to top four-year universities.

 

This spring, we also bring back Every Fifteen Minutes. A program that, while primarily addresses the battle against drunk driving, represents one in a series of programs designed to help students make the right choices.

 

I have said this before and I will continue to say that for me, my tenure at Beverly Hills High School has been, and will always be, the most rewarding experience of my long professional career. It is an honor to serve as your principal in such a treasured educational community - to serve in a land like no other, this land we call Norman Nation.

 

And, as always…

 

GO NORMANS!