Type Public high school Principal Dick Ungar (Interim) Enrollment 1612 Number of students 1,612 Founded 2009 | Established 2009 Grades 9–12 Phone +1 952-556-3500 Mascot Thunder Colors White, Navy Blue | |
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Chanhassen High School (CNS) is a public high school located in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a southwestern suburb of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. CNS has a grade 9–12 school program. Construction of the school was approved by voters in 2006 in response to rapidly growing enrollment in Carver County and overcrowding at Chaska High School, the district's other high school. Chanhassen had an enrollment of 1,576 students during the 2014-15 school year, with an 18:1 student teacher ratio. There are 82 teachers at the school, and more than 80 percent of them have a master's degree or higher. The student body makeup is 52 percent male and 48 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 9 percent.
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History
As a result of steady population increases in Carver County, Chaska High School's enrollment surpassed its building's designed capacity, with future growth in the school district expected. As a result, voters approved a referendum in 2006 to provide funding for a new high school. The vote was very close, a matter of 2% of the population. Opponents of the bond referendum claimed the school district did not provide support that it looked into other ideas for the district beyond building a new high school and the district did not take into consideration other options they may have had (using buildings in other ways). The school has had five graduating classes as of 2015. During its inaugural year the school did not have a senior class.
Academics
In the five years the school has been open Chanhassen has excelled in academics, already ranking in the top 3% of high schools nationwide. Chanhassen offers 25 different Advanced Placement courses and in 2015 had a “Challenge Index” of 2.570, which means that about more than two AP exams were taken across the school for every member of the most recent graduating class.
The administration at Chanhassen aim to provide to "personalized learning", remaining small yet continuing to offer college preparatory courses and a comprehensive curriculum. Students choose electives from four Areas of Interest designed to offer depth in an area of particular relevant for emerging passions and interests.
Theses areas of interest are:
Within each area, students select a Program of Study to deepen and focus learning in specific paths. The selection becomes the basis for a Capstone Course, which is a graduation requirement.
Athletics
Chanhassen's athletic teams competed in the Lake Conference of the Minnesota State High School League for their first year as a school. They joined the Missota Conference in 2010–2011. As of the 2014-2015 school year, Chanhassen High School has joined a new conference, Metro West Conference that the district 112 school, Chaska High School, and Chanhassen started. Both district 112 high schools were co-conference champions for football in the conference's inaugural year.
In the spring of 2015 the Chanhassen Baseball Team finished the season with a 26-4 record and the Class 3AAA MSHSL State Championship.
Music
Chanhassen has three concert bands including Concert Band, Varsity Band, and Symphonic Winds. Chanhassen has a string orchestra directed by Kate Kowalkowski. Chanhassen has a marching band that has participated in the Chanhassen Homecoming Parade and Steamboat Days Parade in Carver, Minnesota annually since the establishment of the school. Along with that, Chanhassen has three jazz bands, and a pit orchestra. Paul Swanson is the director of these ensembles and has led the school to receive many awards. This is in part because of his strong artistic vision from his Ph.D in symphonic conducting from Juliard School of Music. In February 2016, Chanhassen's top jazz band, Jazz 1, also known as the Monday Night Big Band, performed at the prestigious Minnesota Music Educators Association Mid-Winter clinic. Later in April 2016, the band received a Superior rating and the "Best in Site" award at the Region 2AA Jazz Contest.
Along with multiple bands, Chanhassen High School also has a choral department of over 260 student and 8 choirs. These choirs include Concert Choir, Bel Canto, Vivace, the 9th Grade Women's Chorale, Men's Choral, Chamber Singers, and Vox. It also has one choir, "Men Who Sing", known for their less than traditional performances.
Alternative Learning Program
Chanhassen High School used to house Chaska High School's Alternative Learning Program (ALP); the supervisor of this program was Pat Ames through the 2010–2011 school year. This program has been moved to the Peavy Road building. This program is designed to help students who are in need of a different learning environment find success. Students have smaller classes and additional support structures so that guided learning is more available to each individual.
Security
In 2013 the Eastern Carver County school district passed a referendum that put 1.8 million dollars towards renovating entryways for security, adding security cameras, creating key-less entries for employees, and installing electronic visitor systems in all of the schools in the district. This referendum created a very safe environment for the students in Chanhassen High School.
Allegations against principal
On December 13, 2016, Chanhassen High School principal Timothy Dorway was arrested on possession of child pornography. Eastern Carver County Schools sent an email to all families in the school district later on in the afternoon that said they are conducting an internal investigation, along with assisting the BCA in a federal investigation.
Dorway is facing 7 counts of possession of child pornography, dating back as much as a decade. According to the criminal complaint, the principal "admitted to viewing child pornography," and was particularly interested in 11-year-old to 13-year-old girls. The district stated that no students were involved in any of the incidents.