Derby High School

75 Chatfield Street

Derby, Connecticut 06418

(203) 736-5032 ▪ www.derbyps.org

Principal, Jennifer Olson

Update to Board of Education - January 2022

Academics:

Held midterms during the week of 1/24-1/28. Developed a new schedule to balance the health & wellness needs of students and maintain academic expectations. Benefits of the new schedule:
Provided direct instruction on stress management and activity to teach coping strategies and promote student health & wellness that is transferable to other aspects of students’ lives.
Provided a planned study time for students in school on 2 days to promote good study habits and access to extra help.
Spread out exams over 5 days to reduce the number of tests given in one day to help students manage stress and anxiety.
Gave students opportunity to build reading/writing stamina that is needed for state and national benchmark exams/
Modified exam weighting to include content assessment (half of the X1 grade) and student reflection/goal setting (half of the X1 grade) scored with a common rubric in all subjects
Provided time for teachers to give feedback and plan next instructional steps
Planned a school-wide celebration to promote a sense of unity, community, and accomplishment

Planning for NEASC Decennial Accreditation Visit on Sunday, March 27, 2022 through Wednesday, March 30, 2022. This will include meeting with stakeholders, visiting classrooms, and reviewing school resources to demonstrate progress made towards the priority areas. These areas of growth were developed during the NEASC Collaborative Conference Visit in October 2019.

Derby High School’s priority areas are centered around: Learning Culture, Student Learning and Professional Practices.
The Steering Committee Coordinators are: Jennifer Shea and Cristina Kingsbury
The Self-Reflection Chairs are: Rebecca Bell, Steve Bainer, Giana Harrington, Amy Reilly, and James Nichols
Here is a link to the presentation that was shared with the faculty earlier this year. DHS NEASC Presentation

Worked with the RAISE Academy team, student support staff and pupil personnel to review the progress of students who are meeting with academic, behavioral or social- emotional challenges to develop recommendations and referrals.
Received notification from US Presidential Scholars program that 3 students from Derby High School have advanced to the national level as 2022 Candidates (Alyssa Caruso, Shane Deduar, Giovanni Vicens) https://www2.ed.gov/programs/psp/index.html School will work with students to complete and submit application due Feb 24th
Worked with four students to finalize and submit their Voice4Change proposals. Waiting on feedback from CSDE. (Nick Sheridan, Isabelle Hernandez, Jessica Gerckens, Anastasia Stanis)
Worked with STUCO President/Vice President to respond to student requests for lockers, mental health supports, mid-term exams, and new courses. Also discussed requests for additional half-days of school, facilities upgrades and modifications to hall sweeps. (Albana Pergjoka, Brooke Uleano)

Human Capital

Worked with Counseling Department to certify the 2021 Graduation Cohort Data for the CSDE
Planning in-person Career Fair and College Fair
Worked with the School Counseling Dept to review/prepare the 2022 DHS Scholarship book.

Operations

Climate/Culture:

Hosted a Class of 2026 Open House for Grade 8 families JAN 26TH. Goal to promote DHS and reduce the number of students leaving the district for HS. Event included presentations from students, faculty and administration. This will be followed up with individual outreach to students and families
Worked with AD to reschedule Winter Wonderland Dance to ensure students had a special event (February 11)
Took 28 students from DHS on a trip to see Beautiful the Musical at the Shubert Theater.
Celebrated National Bagel Day to recognize staff for their continued work and to start the day with food & friendship