March gets a bad rap! It's far from dull at DRRHS. We have many exciting and important milestones in March. March began with back-to-back field trips to the JFK Museum as well as a College Planning Night. Tomorrow is the Winter Ball; and that's just the beginning! Please read the newsletter for information about upcoming events at the high school, including the DR Spartans Jamboree, Blood Drive, Spring Musical, and more.

On the more academic side, last night the school counselors hosted college planning night for current juniors and their families. The event was well attended and extremely informative. Please read more about college planning in the newsletter.

For our sophomores, we are focusing on MCAS, which begins with assessments in ELA late this month. We will hole an informational assembly next Thursday. In addition, an MCAS Special Edition Newsletter will be published next week. Please note that students have an early release day on Wednesday, March 8th, as teachers engage in professional development. As a reminder, no lunches are served on early release days.

Have a great week, and Go Falcons!

Sincerely,

Gail DeCecco, Principal

Donald Izzo, Assistant Principal for Grades 10 & 12

Ai-Ling Chang, Assistant Principal for Grades 9 & 11

John Herald, CTE Director

Doug Kelley, Dean of Activities and Athletics

Thank you Juniors and family members who attended the College Parent Night last night. We were happy to see so many of you join us! During the night we went over the college planning process, our Naviance platform and the tasks that students should be completing, and had a wonderful panel discussion with the following college admissions representatives: Katelyn Shea from Westfield State College, Emily Bekow from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Sarah Thomashower from Stonehill College. Here is the link to the powerpoint presentation with live links to the resources presented during the night. Moving forward, Guidance Counselors will be meeting with their Juniors individually March-May to personalize this process, and students will receive a copy of their transcript, and a shared google doc summary of what is discussed during that time. We are excited to collaborate and guide our Juniors on their journey in planning for their future, and encourage students and families to communicate with our counselors for support throughout this process.

This year all US History II and AP US History students had the opportunity to attend a field trip to the John F. Kennedy Museum this past week funded as part of a Civics Grant awarded by DESE. Students explored the museum with a focus on the pledges JFK made in his inaugural address. By critically examining the events of the early 1960s, students considered the extent to which President Kennedy followed through on his pledges. JFK’s inaugural address inspired Americans to see the importance of civic action and public service with his historic quote “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” in which he challenged every American to contribute in some way to the public good. Students will reflect on how civic engagement can be expressed in their own lives and implemented in the civic action projects they design this year. Our students were excited to have this opportunity to see history up close and even meet their former Congressman, Joe Kennedy III who was also at the museum. Here's a link to more field trip photos.

• Students in the Class of 2024 who have not yet taken and passed the MCAS ELA and/or Math will exams will have a make-up exam opportunities this month. ELA will be held on March 8th and 9th. Math will be held on March 14th and 15th.
• Students in the Classes of 2025-2026 must pass MCAS ELA, Math, and Biology to graduate with a high school diploma.
• Students in the Class of 2025 will take the ELA MCAS assessments on March 28th and 29th. The Math exams are scheduled for May 16th and 17th. We will be holding an assembly for sophomores next week to review MCAS expectations. In the meantime, please encourage your child to begin reviewing the MCAS practice tests.
• ELA MCAS practice: go to the link and select the computer based test for 10th grade
• MATH MCAS practice
• Students in the Class of 2026 will take the MCAS Biology assessment on June 6th and 7th.
• BIOLOGY MCAS practice

The dance is from 6:30-10 pm. All attendees must arrive by 7 and may leave no earlier than 9:30 pm. Please review the Winter Ball Newsletter for details.

The DR Spartans travel basketball league has been going strong in our community for 10 years! Come join the fun at the Jamboree on March 7th. All are welcome!

Students 16 years or older are eligible to participate in the annual DRRHS Student Government Blood Drive that will take place on March 10th from 8 am - 2 pm in the small gym. All students need to have a signed permission slip to reserve a time slot. Signups are going on at all lunches with Student Government representatives or after school in Room 108. Please contact Ms. Beckett (kbeckett@drregional.org) with any questions or concerns. All donations enable DR students to unlock scholarship opportunities through the American Red Cross.

About the show:

HEAD OVER HEELS is the bold new musical comedy. This laugh-out-loud love story is set to the music of the iconic 1980’s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs, “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.”

A hilarious, exuberant celebration of love, HEAD OVER HEELS follows the escapades of a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction—only to discover the key to their realm’s survival lies within each of their own hearts (Broadway Licensing).

The performance times are:

March 23, 6:30 PM

March 24, 6:30 PM

March 25, 1:00 PM

TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED ONLINE THROUGH THIS LINK.

Many thanks to our custodial team for installing the newly purchased security shades. Our school community now has another layer of protection.

SRO Hathaway and SRO Bennett invite you to follow them on their new Facebook page, "Dighton School Resource Officers," designed to help strengthen outreach to parents, families, and the community.

DR DISPATCH

DR Strategic Planning Survey
The results of this 5-minute survey will be very helpful to our Strategic Planning work. Anyone in our two towns or any alumni can complete it. The deadline is March 7. Thank you! #WeAreDR 💚💛
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DRRSD-POG

Our Best Buddies chapter here at the school is participating in a spring fundraiser through MCM Fundraising. This is the great company that we do our Pie Fundraising in November.

This spring fundraiser is for cookie dough, butter braided pastry and an assortment of other amazing items. Our group would truly appreciate your support. HERE is the direct link with all of the items available and where you can order online.

FamilyID.com will be opened up for Spring Sports registrations on Wednesday, March 1st and close at midnight Friday, March 31st. User fee payments will be due by Friday, April 14th. If there is a financial hardship, please contact Mr. Kelley. All athletes MUST have an up-to-date physical on file with the nurse prior to participating in a Spring Sport.

All of our games are scheduled on Arbiter Sports. You can search game schedules and pre-purchase tickets on GoFan.co. Our student-athletes appreciate your support.

Click here to learn more about the benefits of joining our substitute teacher pool.

This is a reminder the Dighton Rehoboth schools will use the Apptegy alerts system for weather-related messages. It is not our plan to use local media outlets. All messages will be sent through Apptegy via text, RoboCall, and email. Apptegy uses the contact information in Aspen. To modify your contact information, please contact the Main Office.