Dedham High School is a public high school in Dedham, Massachusetts, United States, and a part of the Dedham Public Schools. The school was founded in 1851 by the oldest public school system in the country. It earned a silver medal from U.S. News & World Report in 2017, ranked as the 48th best high school in Massachusetts.
In recent years the school has seen tremendous growth in both the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses and in qualifying scores on the exams. It ranks in the top 10 of Massachusetts high schools with 26.6 percent of students taking at least one AP exam during the 2015-16 school year. The school's athletic program offers 26 varsity sports with a mascot known as the Marauder, and 31 co-curricular clubs and activities. Each student receives a personal computer from the school.
Video Dedham High School
History
As early as 1827 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts required all towns with more than 500 families to establish a free public high school. Beginning in 1844 the School Committee began recommending that the town establish a high school, but it wasn't until 1850 when, under threat of a lawsuit, that the town meeting voted to "instruct the Town's School Committee to hire a building and teacher, and establish a High School according to law." A sum of $3,000 was appropriated to support it.
Charles J. Capen, a private high school teacher, was hired to teach at the new school, and his classroom above the Masonic Hall was rented by the town. The building, located at 25 Church Street, was previously Miss Emily Hodge's Private School. The school used this space from 1851 to 1854, at which point it was moved to the Town House on Bullard Street. It remained there for one year until, in 1855, a new school was built on Highland Street and dedicated on December 10.
A new school was built on Bryant Street in 1887, and students moved in on October 3. After 1915, when the high school moved to Whiting Avenue, the building housed the Ames Junior High School, and today it is the site of the Dedham Town Hall. From 1915 to 1959 the high school was located at 70 Whiting Avenue, and in 1932 a new wing was added at a cost of $200,000. This wing was used as the Oakdale Junior High School.
Special laws were passed by the Massachusetts General Court in 1957 allowing the town to use Stone Park across the street to build a new high school. In 1959 classes began at 140 Whiting Avenue, and continue to the present. An addition to this building was built in 1967, which consisted of a new academic wing and an additional gymnasium. In 1976 a new library, a larger cafeteria, modern science laboratories, swimming pool, and more classrooms were added. The old cafeteria was converted into an auto body shop, and is currently the home of the town's Facilities Department.
The population of the school peaked in 1972 with more than 2,100 students in grades 9-12, but declined in the following years. The then-middle school (housed in the 1915 High School building), however, was at capacity, and so from 1996 until the new middle school opened in 2007, Dedham High School served grades 8-12.
The library was renovated and expanded in 1999, and the C-Wing of the school was renovated with state-of-the-art new science labs in 2002. The superintendent and other central administrators have offices in renovated classrooms in the B-wing, and the town's Youth Commission has offices in the E-wing.
Principals
There have been 17 principals of Dedham High School, a position currently held by James Forrest. The longest serving was Carlos Slafter, who served for 40 years, and who hired his own daughter as a teacher. Peter Smith served twice, from 1976-1987 and from 1997-2000.
Maps Dedham High School
Academics
The approximately 60 teachers at the school serve 739 students, giving the school a student to teacher ratio of 11.4:1.
MCAS
Between 2006 and 2013, scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System improved 20%. In 2012, 91% of students scored proficient or higher on the English Language Arts portion. For the math and science portions, the numbers were 89% and 79%, respectively, both of which were at least 10% higher than the state as a whole. In the biology subject exam, Dedham High School has ranked as one of the best in the state, with three students earning perfect scores.
College courses
Students taking some honors or AP courses can dual-enroll for college credit at the nearby Massachusetts Bay Community College. The three credits can then be transferred to another state college or some private colleges, allowing students to place out of those classes in college. Courses eligible for dual enrollment include English 4, calculus, pre-calculus, world and U.S. history, psychology, biology, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and environmental earth science.
Mass Math + Science Initiative
More than 260 sophomores, juniors, and seniors, which amounts to nearly half of those classes, are taking at least one Advanced Placement course. In 2009 the school joined the Mass Math + Science Initiative, a program sponsored by Mass Insight Education, and by 2012 the number of students who have scored a qualifying score on the exam had risen by 57%. By 2013, the number of qualifying scores had risen 68% to 141. During the 2015-16 school year, 26.6 percent of students took at least one AP exam.
Technology
The town of Dedham has made a substantial commitment to making sure every student has access to the latest educational technology. Beginning in 2011, each incoming freshman was provided with a new netbook computer to use in class and take home at night. While the computers remain the property of the school district, students are responsible for them. As the district has a policy of replacing computers every five years, and since one of the machines would be nearly depreciated by the time a student is graduated four years later, the district allows students to keep the computers after commencement.
The original plan was to provide each new freshman with a netbook until, four years later, the entire school would be outfitted with them. In the 2012-2013 school year freshmen were given netbooks, while sophomores received iPads. The schedule was accelerated beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, when freshmen received netbooks while all sophomores, juniors, and seniors received iPads. Eventually all students will be issued iPads.
Parents are asked to pay a $100 technology fee to help cover the cost of the equipment. However, for students who receive free or reduced price lunch, the fee is waived. The program may be extended in future years to include middle school students as well.
Athletics
Dedham High School participates in the Tri-Valley League and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. Dedham High School joined the Tri-Valley League for the 2017-18 school year, leaving behind the Bay State Conference after 58 years of membership. They were previously invited to join in 2009, but declined the offer. Dedham's enrollment had shrunk to 719 during the 2015-16 school year, when the move was announced, nearly one-third the size of some larger schools in the Bay State Conference, such as Newton North, Framingham, and Weymouth.
In recent years the school has seen a number of new athletic directors. Tom Arria left in 2010 to take a position at a bigger school in Nashua, New Hampshire. He was replaced by Michael Plansky, who left three years later to join a foundation with which he has family ties that assists veterans with addictions. Steve Traister, the current athletic director and director of health and physical education in the Milton public school system, took over for Plansky in 2013.
As the town of Dedham is the seat of Norfolk County, the school's athletic teams informally used the name "Shiretowners" until 1968. The name "Marauders" was officially adopted and an American Indian was chosen as the mascot. The name and the colors of crimson and gray were retained, but the logo changed to a pirate in 2007.
Most teams play at Veteran's Memorial Field at Stone Park, which was rededicated on Thanksgiving Day, 2011, following a major upgrade and renovation.
Fall
- Cheerleading
- Boys' cross country
- Girls' cross country
- Field hockey
- Football
- Golf
- Boys' soccer
- Girls' soccer
- Volleyball
Winter
- Boys' basketball
- Girls' basketball
- Cheerleading
- Boys' ice hockey
- Girls' ice hockey
- Boys' indoor track
- Girls' indoor track
- Swimming
- Wrestling
Spring
- Baseball
- Boys' lacrosse
- Girls' lacrosse
- Boys' outdoor track
- Girls' outdoor track
- Softball
- Boys' tennis
- Girls' tennis
Co-curricular activities
Dedham High School offers 31 co-curricular activities:
- Chess Club
- Class Government
- Computer Club
- Debate Club/Team
- Drama Club
- ECHO - literary magazine
- French Club
- Global Citizenship Club
- Green Team
- Guitar Club
- Interact Club
- Jazz Ensemble
- Link Crew
- Marching Band
- The Mirror - student newspaper
- National Honor Society
- New England Mathematics League
- Orchestra
- Peer Leadership
- Robotics Club
- Students Against Destructive Decisions
- Science Olympiad
- Senior Class Musical
- Sexuality and Gender Alliance
- Spanish Club
- Student Advisory Council
- Student Council
- Winter Color Guard
- Winter Percussion
- Yearbook
- Youth and Government
Senior class play
The senior class at Dedham High School has a long tradition of putting on a play, usually a musical, as one of their final efforts as a class. Tryouts are usually held in December, and the production is staged in mid-March. While the play has been held annually since at least the late 1960s, the tradition is much older than that. Connie Hines, a member of the class of 1948, tried out for a role in her senior class play but did not make the cut. After graduation she went on to Hollywood and starred in a number of television shows, including Mr. Ed.
1980s
- 1980 - Fiddler on the Roof
- 1981 - WhatareyagonnadonowJim?
- 1982 - South Pacific
- 1983 - Oklahoma
- 1984 - The Wizard of Oz
- 1985 - Guys and Dolls
- 1986 - Grease
- 1987 - Chicago
- 1988 - Peter Pan
- 1989 - Little Shop of Horrors
1990s
- 1990 - Leader of the Pack
- 1991 - Man of La Mancha
- 1992 - Oliver!
- 1993 - Starmites
- 1994 - The Wiz
- 1995 - Hello, Dolly!
- 1996 - Bye Bye Birdie
- 1997 - Damn Yankees
- 1998 - Zombie Prom
- 1999 - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
2000s
- 2000 - Once Upon a Mattress
- 2001 - Little Shop of Horrors
- 2002 - Peter Pan
- 2003 - My Fair Lady
- 2004 - Big
- 2005 - Bye Bye Birdie
- 2006 - Beauty and the Beast
- 2007 - Seussical
- 2008 - Copacabana
- 2009 - The Wiz
2010s
- 2010 - Zombie Prom
- 2011 - Bye Bye Birdie
- 2012 - Anything Goes
- 2013 - Footloose
- 2014 - High School Musical
- 2015 - Legally Blonde
- 2016 - Cinderella
- 2017 - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
- 2018 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Notable alumni
- Leon A. Edney, former Supreme Allied Commander, NATO Atlantic Forces, United States Atlantic Command, Commodore Admiral, US Navy
- Connie Hines, actress, Class of 1948
- Maryanne Lewis, former Representative in the Massachusetts General Court
- Paul McMurtry, Representative in the Massachusetts General Court, Class of 1984
- Betty Jo Nelsen, former member and minority leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- George F. Williams, U.S. Representative
- Brett Rider, activist
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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