DHS Improvement Plan Laid Out

assistant principals unveiled their improvement plan for 2011 through 2013 at Wednesday’s Dedham School Committee meeting.

John Murray said DHS is prepping for an accreditation visit in the fall of 2013, and that it will undergo a self-study before then.

The school’s plan focuses on four areas: academic excellence, promoting a positive learning environment, improving facilities and promoting open communication.

Murray worked with fellow assistant principal Jim Forrest and a school council.

“We’ll be looking at the DHS community service program,” Murray said. “We want our community service requirement to be something that is meaningful and valuable to our students, and not a compilation of 40 hours strung together from various places.”

Between a plan to have freshman class teachers “team teach” in order to ease the transition for students and the , the school can make significant gains in the next two years, Murray said.

“It’ll be a rich experience we can offer our ninth grade students,” he said. “The benefits will be seen in 10th through 12th.”

Forrest ceded that the school can always improve its communication to parents, and recommends holding informational nights for individual grades that address different issues.

“We want to continue to make it the most age-appropriate that it can,” Murray said.

DHS also will look into placing security cameras around the school to provide an increase in safety, especially near bathrooms, Forrest said.

“I think we need to strive to find money in the budget to make that happen,” said committee member Tom Ryan.

The assistant principals said that they plan to address vandalism in the bathrooms using either security cameras or using personnel to monitor the areas.

Superintendent Shines Light on Teaming Plan

Superintendent June Doe explained in part how the ninth grade would be teamed next fall, with a full presentation expected in two weeks.

Students will be grouped into two teams. Each team will consist of the four core subjects with two honors, level one and level two courses.

Freshmen will be able to choose from new semester-long electives beginning in the fall. Choices include engineering, art, video production, computer class and wood shop.

“The first run on the scheduled for teaming is encouraging,” Doe said.