It’s a great time to be a Blazer as Addison Trail welcomes the 2015-16 school year

Welcome to a new and exciting school year!

There has never been a better time to be a Blazer. This past school year, Addison Trail and its sister school, Willowbrook, once again received national honors as “Top High Schools” by Newsweek, “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” by The Washington Post, “Best Public High Schools in the Chicago Metro Area” by the Niche Rankings and “Best High Schools” by U.S. News & World Report. We are extremely proud to receive those honors. It speaks volumes to the hard work and dedication of our students, staff, parents/guardians and the entire Addison community.

As the new Principal of Addison Trail, I could not have asked for a better start to the 2015-16 school year. Our first day of school saw an attendance rate of nearly 95 percent. Blazer Pride was evident through the energy our staff and students brought back to the campus.

One of the highlights of my first week as Principal was having the opportunity to ride a school bus home with a group of students on the first day. Their discussions on the bus about seeing friends and visiting with some of their favorite teachers support our goal of building positive relationships. One of the characteristics that separate Addison Trail from other high schools is the personalization and caring learning environment we strive to create each and every day for all students. Those relationships extend beyond the classroom to activities and athletics. Nearly 70 percent of our students are involved in sports or activities. That number is important to us because we know students who are connected to the school through their coaches and teammates are more successful during their four years as a Blazer.

Beyond our academic success and positive school climate, we want our students to begin thinking about what comes next after they graduate from Addison Trail. To support that goal, we will again take our freshmen students on a campus visit to University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall. We want our freshmen to begin with the end in mind. We also will take a similar trip with our sophomores to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

We are off to a great start to the 2015-16 school year, and we look forward to the legacy the class of 2016 will leave behind at Addison Trail. Thank you for your continued support of Addison Trail and District 88!

With Blazer Pride,
Michael Bolden
Addison Trail Principal