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Schools

Back to School: A Look at What DHS Students Should Expect

The new artificial turf might be the first thing to catch students' attention, but other changes are also afoot this coming year.

students will notice some changes at the start of the upcoming school year, including a number of new teachers and a brand new on Adams Field.

Twelve teachers retired last year, and 12 new faces will take over open positions at DHS, said Audris Griffith, DHS principal. New faculty includes two new department chairs for English and world languages.

Less noticeable to students but important will be the focus this year on new assessment techniques, Griffith said. She said more frequent measures of student learning will help teachers fine-tune teaching methods in light of the most recent research. That new initiative will also move away from individual classroom approaches, with teachers coming together across their shared academic areas to work as a team, she said.

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Students will find it difficult to miss the new splash of green on Adams Field. That field will be accessed continually throughout the day by a wide variety of sports teams and physical education classes, Griffith said. Formerly, the field use was limited to football and some soccer play.

Griffith said she is relieved to have a better space for student athletes, noting the late hours some students had to keep due to limited practice spaces. were “practicing catching fly balls on the parking lot pavement,” she said. “I was patently uncomfortable with that.”

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Another eye-catching change is the landscaping project of the advanced placement environmental science class. This year, the class will reintroduce native species to the high school grounds. The project also includes landscaping that helps naturally filter run-off water in the flood-prone areas.

The larger lesson for DHS students, according to Griffith: “What do you see around you, and how can you be responsible stewards,” she said. 

The DHS school year begins on Aug. 24, with classes running on an abbreviated schedule from 8:10 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. The following day, classes will run on a regular schedule from 8:10 a.m. to 3:14 p.m.

School also kicks off on Wednesday for grades 1-8 which includes students at Kipling, South Park, Walden, Wilmot, Caruso and Shepard Middle School. The first day of school for kindergarten and early childhood students will begin on Thursday.  

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