As we prepare to begin the 2015-2016 school year, we would like to take a moment to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Beaver Dam community. This message of thanks extends to students and parents, teachers, support staff, administrators, supporting businesses, extended family and our taxpayers. The 2014-2015 school year saw unprecedented levels of student success across our school district. There is no truer measure of the success of a school district than how its high school students are performing. Academic achievement at the high school level is symbolic of the academic rigor and success at each step of a student’s education as (s)he moves from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Earlier this past year, Beaver Dam High School was recognized as a Pacesetter Award School in the State of Wisconsin for high levels of success in advanced placement testing. This spring our high school students continued their trend of excellence and exceeded past levels of achievement by setting a new record in the number of students taking advanced placement tests as well as achieving at the highest rate in the history of our school district. In May Beaver Dam High School was recognized as one of the top high schools in the state of Wisconsin and in the country. Yearly national high school rankings by US News and World Reports rated Beaver Dam High School among the top 10% of high schools in the state of Wisconsin and the nation as a whole. In breaking down the rankings, BDHS ranked higher than all schools in the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference, all schools in the Badger Conference, all but one school in the greater Madison metropolitan area and all schools along the Hwy 151 corridor from Madison to Appleton. In addition to these successes, BDHS students worked to grow their career readiness skills by enrolling in youth apprenticeship opportunities in career and technical fields such as manufacturing at rates unseen in the recent past. These and the other academic recognitions the Beaver Dam Unified School District has received over the past year are no accident. The successes are the result of student effort, parent support, staff commitment, community support; they represent a strong, robust K-12 education system in Beaver Dam.
Thank you to everyone in our learning community for helping guide our students and empower their futures. As the 2015-2016 school year draws near, we will only sharpen our laser like focus on achieving our vision--leading the way in student growth and achievement. Thank you! Have a wonderful school year. 