Dear LACHSA Community and Friends, At this busy and festive time of year, I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season!  Our students, parents, faculty, and staff have outdone themselves this semester.  The success of our performances continued the long legacy of success for which LACHSA is known and students will end this week with a seriousness of purpose focused on their academic studies.  I am so proud of our artist-scholars and our entire community! All of this, however,  has taken its toll.  The accelerated semester meant a compressed schedule of LACHSA-related events and exams with little time for little else.  I know many of our families had to accommodate travel plans and holiday shopping based on this schedule.  I want to also acknowledge our Shared Decision-Making Council (SDMC) for its work in shaping our calendar with our students' success as its focus.  As you may know LACHSA's SDMC is comprised of representative members of all of our stakeolder groups, including parents and students. This is the first time our first semester ends at the Winter break and was crafted deliberately by our SDMC to ensure that our students could enjoy a two-week holiday break free from the rigors and stresses of homework and exam study.  Because we have oriented our calendar to this end, I am pleased to declare that this Winter break is a homework-free holiday!  During this holiday, I want our students to embrace their childhood, to spend time with family and friends, to laugh and play, and to "chill out" as need be.  I know there are those that would prefer a different calendar.  While it is hard to please everyone I am proud of the process--the listening, the deliberation, the student-centered approach--that led to our calendar for this year.  I know  students, parents, and faculty alike have shared their opinions and concerns about our calendar to our SDMC or its representatives.  While some may disagree with the outcome, I hope everyone feels confident that our students' success was at the center of this decision making. Our calendar for 2012-2013 is as yet undecided. It was important for us to live through this school  year, to identify our success and areas to change for next year.  In the meantime I wish you a joyous and happy holiday season! Sincerely, George Simpson Principal