Dear Chesapeake Community:

The weather may be cold but spring is in the air. Chesapeake moved into second semester on January 28. The rest of the school year is jammed packed with activity. This is a great indication that Chesapeake High has a vibrant and active spirit surrounding it every day.

Students received course registration information for 2008/2009 in mid January. These forms were due back to the guidance office by the end of January. It is important that those registration forms are returned because it allows counselors to help schedule students around their interests and needs. Students can still turn them into guidance. February 11 will be the 8th grade parent night to provide information to the incoming class of 2012. During March the counselors will meet with each student to review the registration information and discuss the students' academic plan. School staffing decisions are made based on these meetings so it is important that everyone make careful selections in order to support students getting the best schedule. Once the master schedule is created it is difficult to make changes.

On March 11 Chesapeake will host the Accreditation for Growth (AFG) team from the Middle States Association standards for receiving accreditation. This process is done at every high school in the county on a rotating seven year cycle. Faculty, staff and community have been working over the last two years preparing for this visit. CHS feel confident that we will do well.

The next big event on the horizon is the administration of the AP exams the first and second week of May. Students will receive registration information on February 8. The deadline for return is March 14. Each test costs $84.00. CHS encourages students to take the AP tests as the culmination of a year of heard work. If a students takes the AP test, they can choose to exempted from their final exam in that course.

Immediately after the AP test period Anne Arundel County will administer the High School Assessments in every high school. The assessments will be from May 19 through May 22. Last year CHS missed making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) in English by two students. There has been a great deal of hard work put into instruction this year to support that we will make AYP for the 2008 administration. Speak with your children who all will need to pass the assessments to graduate to remain focused and dedicated to doing their best in May.

The really big event of the year will follow soon after assessments and that is GRADUATION. Graduation is going to be held on site and there are no plans in the immediate future to move graduation. The focus of everyone now is to insure that all eligible seniors remain eligible for June 4. I encourage you to be in contact with your senior's guidance counselor and teachers to make sure that there are no surprises in June. A senior letter will be sent home in February that addresses all the events that will be occurring until June.

On January 23 the CAC held their senior high and cluster meetings. At the senior meeting there was a large concern regarding the placement of the Chesapeake Regional Program at CHS. Admittedly CHS and AACPS need to do a better job of communication the program to the community. It has been at the school since 1990 and services the Special Education-emotionally disadvantage students from the northern part of the county. We are currently updating the CHS website to include pertinent information. AACPS is also looking at providing necessary information on the county website The design of the program is to provide the least restrictive environment to students with special needs as mandated by federal law.

Take time to visit the Chesapeake High School website. Mrs. Devine and her students have spent time updating and improving communication resource.

Continue to support students in their efforts to be successful. Remember Cougars Can and Will.

Sincerely,

Patricia A. Plitt
Principal