RATHDRUM - Conrad Underdahl can't get enough of watching students improve.

"When you set high expectations for kids, they'll generally rise to that expectation if you respect them," the Lakeland High School principal said.

Underdahl has been named Idaho's Secondary Principal of the Year by the Idaho Association of Secondary School Principals, a group with 240 members.

"I'm very honored and humbled to be selected by my peers this way," he said.

Underdahl, in his 13th year as Lakeland's principal, was nominated by Lakeland Superintendent Mary Ann Ranells.

"Conrad nurtures broad-based leadership by fostering an approach to curriculum that focuses on learning rather than teaching," Ranells wrote in the nomination letter. "He is a keen practitioner of systems thinking.

"He is fixated on results and doggedly works with staff to articulate clear and measurable goals, to identify indicators that offer evidence of progress and to develop systems for monitoring those indicators on a continual basis, not just when the state test are administered."

Lakeland, which has 750 students, has consistently performed above the state and national averages on ACT and ISAT scores. Underdahl has advocated for expanded dual enrollment opportunities and Lakeland received a $100,000 grant from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation for such purpose.

"About 50 of our students will graduate with their first semester of college already completed," Underdahl said. "That's a been a big push of ours."

Underdahl said he was asked a lot about the school's culture during the award process.

"There's an expectation that we treat the students as adults and an expectation that they conduct themselves that way," he said. "We set high standards for students and we as a staff want to do what we can to make sure students meet those. I believe great schools are made of great teachers and staff."

Two years ago, Lakeland received a Brightest Star award from Gov. Butch Otter for various ways of giving back to the community.

The award process included Underdahl being interviewed by an IASSP committee in Boise.

Underdahl will receive the award in August in Boise. The honor qualifies him to be eligible for national Principal of the Year and earned him a trip to Washington, D.C., in September to meet Idaho lawmakers and possibly hear President Barack Obama speak.

* Ranells will receive the 2012-2013 District Leadership Award sponsored by the Idaho School Superintendents' Association. The award will be presented during the group's conference this summer in Boise. She was nominated by Lakeland school board member Tim Skubitz.