District Update: October 2024

Happy October, Dedham Families and Friends!

As the leaves change and we settle into the school year, I want to take a moment to thank you for your continued partnership in supporting your child’s education. The start of the school year is always a busy time, and we are so grateful for your engagement and ongoing support.

I am excited to announce that the invitation to the Dedham community to help shape our District’s 5-Year Strategic Plan was met with great enthusiasm. This morning, a working group of 28 committed stakeholders—including parents, educators, administrators, and local town leaders—gathered to begin this important collaborative effort. Once finalized, the strategic plan will prioritize key areas such as academic excellence, equity, community partnerships, facilities, and preparing all students for the future.

My goal has always been to be visible and accessible to our educators across the district, and this past week I was able to begin a series of half-day residency visits at Avery and DHS. These visits to each school during the year not only provide valuable insights and opportunities to observe our learning environments in action, but in just these first two visits reinforced my belief that Dedham Public Schools is focused on the right priorities. Our educators are creating positive and engaging learning environments where all students can thrive, and I am proud to witness this commitment firsthand.

Finally, I hope to see you later this month, on October 24th at the Dedham Public Schools second annual Curriculum Night for K - 12 families. The event is designed to offer parents and caregivers multiple opportunities to learn about district curriculum and materials, special education services, and student opportunities across the District.

With appreciation and gratitude,

Nan

This is important work - and every voice matters. Please take a moment to share your thoughts and ideas! Once finalized, the strategic plan will prioritize key areas of focus for our schools in the future, shaping how we approach our collective mission and values around teaching, learning, staffing, facilities, budgeting and more.

To better align with educational goals and ensure that report cards clearly reflect student learning, the DPS Office of Teaching & Learning is in the process of developing a new standards-based elementary report card that will be ready to launch by the Fall of 2025. The goal is to provide families with a clearer, more comprehensive view of how students are progressing toward meeting grade-level standards. This will help parents/guardians better understand the skills your student is mastering and where additional support may be needed.To ensure we create a report card that works for everyone, the process begins with gathering feedback from teachers and families. Your perspectives as parents and caregivers are essential in making sure the new report card is meaningful and useful.

The Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) capital budget development process is well underway and will continue through the Spring until Town Meeting votes the School Department and Town capital and operating budgets. The preparation of the FY26 capital budget is made particularly complicated by a number of major decisions on potential replacement of the Oakdale School and the entirety of the roof at DHS. These decisions will take place in the weeks ahead and will have a significant influence on the ultimate composition of the District’s final capital budget for FY26.

The Office of Finance and Operations is busy preparing for the start of the FY26 operating budget development process. Superintendent Murphy and Deputy Superintendent Kelly will be scheduling an informational Community Budget Forum for families and community members to review budget process and gather input for FY26 budget development in November.

Students in Miss Lynch’s class engaged in fun STREAM activities using the book Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Suess. One of the challenges involved constructing ways to hold ten apples off of the floor. The students planned, tested and refined their designs.

The Mathematics Department is starting off the year with engaging activities designed to spark excitement for math and encourage critical thinking. In Statistics, students collected data for a “Smelling Parkinson’s” project, while Grade 7 students collaborated to build structures by following detailed instructions. Grade 8 students worked together to tackle the challenge of creating structures that contained a specified number of squares from twelve popsicle sticks while fostering teamwork and problem-solving skills.

On September 19, DPS held our annual band instrument rental night for 4th and 5th graders to pick up their band instruments for lessons which begin in the next two weeks. Dedham has a long and storied history of band excellence and we are excited to be able to welcome our students to join in that tradition early in their school career. The Dedham Public Schools offer all of our 4th and 5th graders the chance to learn to play an instrument during the school day.

Pictured are members of the Elementary instrumental team: Amy Heil (Oakdale/Greenlodge), Jen O’Shea (Riverdale/Avery), & Sara Santos (Avery/Riverdale)

While the District's youngest artists are working on proper tool management routines, ensuring they are prepared to create their best work, the Advanced Placement Art course has the largest enrollment to date at the High School, with students pursuing three distinct portfolio options. The DHS Art Department also reinstated Ceramics 2, and the wheel-throwing program will start soon.

In both Fine and Visual Arts, students are enjoying a variety of new courses offered this year at both DMS and DHS. These additions and expansions reflect our commitment to providing our students a diverse and enriching art education.

We are excited to let you know that Dedham Public Schools will continue to receive FREE school meals in School Year 2024-2025, and in all future years. This means that breakfast and lunch will continue to be served at no cost to all students. Your student can receive 1 FREE complete breakfast and 1 FREE complete lunch each school day.

Additional meals and a-la-carte items are available at some of our schools for purchase. Parents can set up an online MySchoolBucks account to make funds available for student use. Learn More Here.

Local organizations, events and happenings are often shared with Dedham Schools. As a community service, we post all shared flyers and information here. These events are not sponsored by DPS, but we encourage you to check them regularly to learn about fun things happening around town!

FLYER SPOTLIGHT:

DEF Dash 5K Reminder - October 6, 2024

For the past 28 years, Dedham Education Foundation has provided grants to fund activities designed to supplement or enrich the course of study consistent with the curriculum and for which budget funds are not available.

• October 2: Early Release - PD

• October 3: No School - Rosh Hashanah

• October 9: DMS School Picture Day

• October 10: Oakdale School Picture Day

• October 10: Avery, Riverdale, Oakdale, Greenlodge Open House

• October 14: No School - Indigenous Peoples Day

• October 15: Superintendent Community Session

• October 16-17: ECEC School Picture Day

• October 17: Riverdale School Picture Day

• October 17: DMS Open House

• October 17: ECEC PreK Open House

• October 21: Greenlodge School Picture Day

• October 24: DPS Curriculum Night

Please join us to celebrate and honor the incredible work our seven principals do every day, transforming our schools, bringing joy, guidance and a love of learning to our students' lives.

Last year, Dedham Public Schools introduced and implemented new safety protocols that help faculty, staff, and students understand how best to respond in an emergency. These protocols are known as ALICE and focus on building adaptive responses to emergency situations.

This year we will continue this important work with a deliberate plan for lessons and drills throughout the school year, designed with input and oversight from Dedham Police and our School Resource offices, to help staff and students review and practice how to best respond in an emergency situation. An email with details was sent by Superintendent Murphy on September 26. You can read a copy of the email here.