New principal puts mark on Calabasas graduating class

Dave Jackson After his first year as principal at Calabasas High School, Dave Jackson says he couldn't ask for better students or a better staff. And he's happy to announce that some of this year's graduates will attend major colleges across the country, some will join the military and others will enter the trades.

Among its many accomplishments, CHS has been nominated for a Blue Ribbon, a national recognition for public and private kindergartenthrough 12th-grade schools that are academically superior in their states or demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.

"There are only 35 schools in the state that are nominated for a Blue Ribbon," Jackson said. "That puts you in the top 3 percent of all high schools in the nation."

Lots of wonderful things happened this year, according to Jackson.

"Our choir went to Carnegie Hall to sing, our wind assemble went to Boston to play in the Boston Symphony and our Jazz A Band got to go to the Essentially Ellington" High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Jackson said.

The CHS cheerleaders-for the first time-went to the ESPN National High School Cheerleading Championship in Florida.

ADAM DAVIS/Acorn Newspapers FRIENDS-Kelsey Ford hugs English teacher Diane McEvoy following the Calabasas graduation. Jackson called the first three pep rallies of the school year the best pep rallies he's ever seen at any high school.

This year's school drama production of "Seussical the Musical" was so popular that people were turned away because the theater was packed.

CHS participated in a student exchange program with a sister school in Tel Aviv, Israel.

"We had some of our kids go over there, and we had about two dozen of their kids come over here for a couple of weeks and live with families here," Jackson said.

Sophomores, who are required to take the California High School Exit Exam, did very well on the tests, according to Jackson.

Ninety-eight percent of the students passed the English and math portions of the test.

"I'd like to take credit for that, but I can't," Jackson said. "That credit goes to my teachers, to the kids who have really good genes from their parents and to an active community."

Jackson said CHS students are very mature young adults.

"We had lots of kids raising money for worthy causes and lots of kids doing community ser

vice-not because we mandate that at school, but because they feel it's the right thing to do," he said.

Before becoming principal at CHS, Jackson was principal at Agoura High School for two years and principal of Royal High School in Simi Valley for five years. For 10 years he served as a vice president of a multimilliondollar corporation. He came to CHS at the request of the Las Virgenes Unified School District.