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February 2024
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Greetings
Dear Dover-Sherborn Educators and Families,
Its hard to believe that today marks the 100th day of school!
To date, we have developed classroom communities and fostered new friendships; analyzed MacBeth and calculated probability; debated Supreme Court cases and experimented with electrolysis; built terrariums and designed prototypes; survived extreme heat and weathered ice storms; won the state golf championship and produced Mary Poppins; gained early entrance into selective colleges and excelled on midyear exams - and we still have another semester to go!
I am so proud of the hard work of our students, inspired by the dedication of our faculty, and grateful for the support of our parents and community members. Dover-Sherborn is truly a remarkable place.
So here's to another 81 days of joyful learning, meaningful experiences and community-building - I can't wait to see what the spring brings!
Warmly,
Beth McCoy
Superintendent
Update on District Goals
The District Strategy was the result of a year-long entry process involving input from all stakeholder groups and outlines key initiatives for bringing to fruition a shared vision for 21st century learning.
Each year, District and School Improvement Plans are updated by the District Leadership Team and School Advisory Councils to reflect the next layer of work relative to the five year plan.
Having just passed the midway point of the school year, its an important time to reflect on progress toward achievement of the District's annual goals.
Goal 1: Vision for Teaching & Learning
Establish a shared vision for teaching and learning that engages students as active learners in the development of skills depicted in the Dover-Sherborn Portrait of a Graduate.
BEST PRACTICES
K-12 Curriculum Leaders finalized a set of 9 Best Practices to ensure HOW they teach supports the development of students’ critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills.
The 9 Best Practices reflect instructional strategies proven to engage students in deep learning resulting in higher academic achievement, greater transfer of knowledge and increased retention of information.
Educators continue to engage in professional development focused in these nine areas as they aim to implement them more regularly across classrooms and grade levels.
- RELATIONSHIPS - Promote a climate of kindness and respect that prioritizes students’ relationships with educators and peers in order to foster empathy, belonging and well-being.
- VOICE - Engage all students as active participants in meaningful learning by giving them a voice into what and how they learn.
- AGENCY - Create opportunities for students to build their efficacy and agency by taking academic risks, challenging themselves and claiming ownership of their learning.
- RELEVANCE - Prioritize skills and content that allow students to apply their learning in relevant, authentic, and real-world contexts.
- EQUITABLE ACCESS - Ensure all students are held to high expectations and have equitable access to a wide range of rigorous coursework and learning opportunities.
- CRITICAL THINKING - Develop students’ abilities to examine information and ideas by thinking critically, asking questions, and analyzing perspective and bias.
- COLLABORATION - Provide opportunities for cooperative learning, conferring, and civil discourse as a means to develop collaborative and interpersonal skills.
- INDIVIDUALIZATION - Utilize instructional practices that tailor learning to students’ identities, experiences, prior knowledge, and learning styles, ensuring that all students are supported and challenged to meet their full potential.
- GROWTH - Offer students multiple opportunities and means to demonstrate their learning, reflect on their growth, and receive meaningful feedback from educators.
CURRICULUM AUDIT
Educators continue with the curriculum audit to affirm WHAT they teach engages students in rigorous and relevant material. The process entails educators reviewing materials for evidence of 11 components of a high-quality curriculum:
High expectations - All students are held to high academic standards and provided with multiple means of engagement to stimulate interest and motivation for learning.
Higher order thinking - Multiple avenues for students to engage in higher order thinking and opportunities for students to learn/practice these thinking skills.
Critical thinking - Critical thinking skills enable students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information from various sources. It provokes critical questions about the societal status quo by presenting alternative points of view. Students reflect upon the reasons why multiple points of view are important.
Student engagement - Incorporates real-life connections and representations from various cultures and life experiences in order to stimulate student interest and motivation for learning.
Student voice - Opportunities for student-driven inquiry and for students to work together to share their learning experiences, strengths, backgrounds, interests, and needs with the teacher and each other.
Student expression/choice - Students have multiple ways to represent information, content and skills.
Representation - Students have a variety of resources (texts, photos, scenarios, names) that affirm students’ identities (mirrors) and expose them to experiences other than their own (windows).
For more information, view the Focus on Curriculum webinar and slides (March 2023).
Goal 2: Student Sense of Belonging
Nurture a positive school culture and strong sense of belonging as a means to improve academic and social-emotional outcomes for all students.
The elementary schools continue to pilot the Fly Five curriculum as a means of incorporating CASEL skills into Morning Meeting and various activities throughout the school day.
Each of the four schools continue to expand opportunities for students to develop leadership skills and build community, including the Chickering Citizens and Middle School Peer Leadership programs.
District Leaders are in the early stages of implementing restorative practices by developing school-wide norms and responses to events that resolve conflict, repair harm and hold students accountable. (See more information below)
Dover-Sherborn is one of a select group of districts participating in the launch of METCO 2.0. Through training and coaching sessions, leaders are developing a plan to bring the district into greater alignment with the recently released METCO Blueprint. (See more information below)
Goal 3: Transparent Communication
Refine communication strategies relative to district goals and practices as a means to increase transparency and build trust with families and the community.
- The new district website launched this summer and continues to be tweaked based on user feedback.
- The Communication Hub is located on the district website’s landing page, providing all parents, caregivers and community members access to newsletters from all four schools.
- The district has partnered with ParentSquare as a means of streamlining and centralizing home-school communication through a single app. Training for educators and parents/guardians is scheduled for the spring and summer.
School Report Cards
Linked are the 2023 report cards for the Dover-Sherborn Public Schools:
The report cards include multiple measures of a school’s performance, including student achievement, teacher qualifications, student learning opportunities, and more.
Dover-Sherborn continues to exceed local and state standards. To improve student performance, we will further leverage the expertise of instructional leaders, coaches and interventionists and refine our tiered system of support for students.
If you have questions about your school’s report card, please contact your building principal.
Elementary Literacy & Math Updates
- What are the components of an elementary literacy program?
- What literacy programs do our elementary students use?
- How are we monitoring the effectiveness of our literacy model?
- How is the second year of the math pilot different than the first?
- How will a new elementary math curriculum be chosen?
- When will a decision on a new math curriculum be made?
Answers to these questions and others can be found in the following documents:
An update regarding both the literacy and math curricula will be presented to the Dover and Sherborn School Committees in March. Stay tuned for additional details.
Research on Belonging & Engagement
“We have known for years that social, emotional, and cognitive processing are all neurologically intertwined. When students of all ages and stages feel they belong to a community, they are more likely to thrive — and students don't learn as much when they feel uncertain about their belonging."
“Engagement has been much-heralded in the literature as an important driver of school achievement as well as a critical antecedent to understanding material and acquiring new skills."
Find additional research and resources (and citations) in the document below.
Community Member Library
Of the many strengths of the Dover-Sherborn community are the talented parents, caregivers and citizens who live here - experts across a wide array of fields and disciplines.
Over time, we have leveraged the research of sleep specialist Dr. Charles Czeisler, advice of ADL Regional Vice President Robert Trestan, ideas of Innovative Learning Leader Sandra Moumoutjis, among many, many others.
As the District often looks to guest speakers, committee members and volunteer consultants for time and resources, we'd love to know YOUR areas of interest and expertise.
Please consider filling out this quick form to share your background as together we strive to ensure the best possible education and experience for our children.
(This information will only be shared among District administrators).
METCO 2.0
Fifty-eight years after its founding, METCO, Inc. and its 33 partner districts are refocusing their efforts to ensure, "every student in a METCO district will experience an inclusive, equitable, and antiracist education."
"METCO is not a bussing program. This is just our mode of transportation. METCO mobilizes people, people's hearts and people's minds." (Milly Arbaje-Thomas, METCO CEO)
Learn more via the video below!
Building Studies
Pine Hill Building & Engineering Studies
Pine Hill is in the process of undergoing two studies, an engineering study to identify strategies to cool the non-air-conditioned building, and another to determine the overall condition and life expectancy of the school.
Both reports will provide critical information for the school committee and town leaders as they consider viable short and long-term options to ensure a safe learning environment.
DSMS & DSHS Space Audit
Last spring the District engaged an architectural firm to undertake an educational facilities assessment at the region, focused on educational space adequacy, utilization, functionality, and the ability to meet the needs of a 21st century learning environment.
The report is currently under review by administration and the school committee who will identify priorities and funding sources for the possible creation of new educational spaces.
Commendations
The District often undergoes audits by outside agencies, sometimes as a measure of compliance such as the Civil Rights and Special Education reviews conducted by DESE, and others at our request in order to address and provide recommendations in areas of perceived need, such as the engineering study and space audit mentioned above.
Having third parties assess our programs and resources provides opportunities to highlight strengths and identify areas for growth. The report resulting from the recent audit at the region includes commendations worth noting:
"At Dover-Sherborn, a very advanced academic program with an extensive range of course offerings leads to greater personalization, higher student achievement, greater student and parent satisfaction, high morale, and increased motivation."
"The Dover-Sherborn High School and Middle School complex houses an incomparable educational program that not only provides an outstanding range and depth of academic offerings, but also attends to the social and emotional needs of growing adolescents by sponsoring a remarkable 'whole child' culture. The variety of course offerings go far beyond traditional high schools with hundreds of different subject taught, often a multiple skill levels."
Restorative Practices
"The focus is people. Suppression makes problems go away temporarily. Intervention is intended to solve the problem. Both have their places in discipline, but intervention is needed." - Kelvin Oliver
Please join us for an overview of Restorative Practices on Thursday, February 8 from 6:30-7:30 PM in the Middle School Library.
The event will be recorded and shared out for those unable at attend.
State of the District
Many thanks to those who attended the January 24th State of the District presentation.
The objective was to provide an overview of current district data and demographics, highlight examples of school programming and student outcomes, and outline initiatives and next steps in support of a shared vision for 21st century learning.
A video recording and presentation slides are available for viewing.
Calendar Task Force Update
Student members of the Calendar Task Force presented their findings to the school committees at their joint meeting on January 30th. A video recording of the event, presentation slides and initial memo are available for reference.
The school committees are now in the process of deciding what additional information they need, if any, to make a final decision.
Upcoming Events
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES OVERVIEW
What are restorative practices and how are schools using them?
Thursday, February 8 @ 6:30 PM, Middle School LibraryPORTRAIT OF A GRADUATE: INDUSTRY PANEL
How are various fields evolving and how can we prepare our students for employment and success?
Thursday, March 7 @ 6:30 PM, Sherborn Library Community Room
PORTRAIT OF A GRADUATE: COLLEGE PANEL
How is the college admission process changing and how can we help our students showcase their potential?
Wednesday, March 27 @ 6:30 PM, Dover Library Community Room