Forest Lake Area School District

Forest Lake science teacher gets praise from U.S. Secretary of Education

Bruce Leventhal, a biology teacher at Forest Lake Area High School, received a phone call on May 10 from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan congratulating Leventhal on his outstanding work as an educator and asking the 21-year veteran teacher about national policies that affect the work of school districts across the country. The call, which was planned a week in advance by officials in Washington, D.C., and school district officials, came as a shock to Leventhal, who was kept in the dark until the minute he received the call. Click here to see an article about the phone call in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, or click here to see the district's news release.

Newsweek says Forest Lake High is one of the top high schools in the U.S.

Forest Lake Area High School is one of the 2,000 best public high schools in America, according to a Newsweek / Daily Beast magazine article published online May 6. Forest Lake was ranked No. 29 among all Minnesota high schools and No. 1,319 in the nation, making it one of only three Suburban East Conference (SEC) high schools to make the national list. Click here to see the online article published on the Daily Beast website, or click here to see the district's news release.

Forest Lake senior Brandon Hilla featured on WCCO's "Life to the Max"

Brandon Hilla, a senior at Forest Lake Area High School, is an accomplished performer and speech team member who also spends much of his spare time volunteering as a tutor at local elementary schools. Among other activities, he enjoys helping teach math to 4th graders. Hilla was recently featured on the television program Life to the Max, hosted by WCCO's Mike Max. That segment, which aired on April 20, is titled "The Power of One." On the show, Max told the inspirational story of a shy student whose self confidence blossomed in junior high school after he joined the speech team. Click here to see the segment.

Facilities Task Force presents report to school board

Last fall, the Forest Lake Area School Board created a facilities task force made up of 30 - 40 people who volunteered many hours of their time to tour district buildings and determine what needs existed at those buildings. Task force members included members of local communities, civic leaders, teachers, students, former students, school board members and other district staff. By early April, the task force had completed its work, and on April 4, three members of the task force presented their findings and their recommendations to the school board. Click here to see the report, which is a 5 - 6 minute video . Click here to download a PDF of the PowerPoint document which was also presented to the board.