NEW SCHEDULE ON WAY FOR DMS
S
tarting in the 2019-2020 school year, Dorseyville
Middle School students will spend more
instructional time in the core subject areas.
According to Dorseyville Middle School Principal
Jonathan Nauhaus, the middle school schedule had not
changed in many years, and an upgrade was necessary to give
students the best education possible.
“The change was imperative for several reasons, including
increased rigor in the Pennsylvania Core Standards and
students needing more experience with skills such as
collaboration, problem-solving, and creative thinking,” he said.
“But we knew that it was important for students to continue
to be exposed to the arts and other elective offerings that they
have become accustomed to experiencing.”
According to Matthew Harris, Ed.D., the district’s executive
director of secondary education and instruction, today’s
learning must go beyond simple memorization and needs to
delve into the understanding of complex systems.
“The new DMS schedule responds to an instructional and
curricular landscape that has changed to respond to the needs
of the PA Core Standards and a modern workforce,” he said.
The process of changing the schedule was collaborative
and involved parents, administrators, and teachers. The
district enlisted the help of The Hill Group Management
Consultants, who conducted a parent survey to ensure that
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all stakeholders voices were heard. Following input from
the survey, the DMS teachers and administrators developed
model schedules. The district also held public meetings about
the schedule throughout the process to keep parents and
guardians informed. The final schedule was the consensus of
all stakeholder groups.
Several priorities were set for the development of the new
schedule. It was understood that the program must be unique
to the needs of the middle school learner and the middle
school philosophy, including built-in academic and emotional
supports, an increase in class time for core subjects, and
maintaining strong connections between students and staff.
Additionally, the schedule needed to preserve a wide exposure
to the arts and also offer other experiences to help students
develop additional academic interests.
The schedule will run on a quarterly six-day cycle and includes
a 34-minute morning homebase and 60 minutes each for the
core classes of English language arts/literacy, math, science,
and social studies. It also includes time for physical education,
music, world languages, art, technology education, computer
science, health, and family and consumer sciences. Eighth-
graders also have the opportunity to further study electives,
and classes were added in computer science and music.
Additionally, the schedule allows for later lunch periods, the
study of four languages (Spanish, French, German, and Latin)
in sixth grade, and a Level I world language option in grade
seven.