About DMS: philosophies and practices
Since its founding in 1979, Dunn Middle School has provided 6th-8th grade students with an education that is challenging, fun, and rewarding during their "vital" years. At DMS we nurture the wonder and excitement of youth to foster the skills and character necessary for success in future academic and creative endeavors. With an average class size of 10 to 12, our students can embark upon diverse and substantive learning experiences during these critical and fruitful middle adolescent years.
DMS employs a full range of traditional and progressive teaching strategies where genuine problem solving takes the place of busy work and spoon-feeding. Long and short-term projects, cooperative learning, hands-on activities, and workshop style learning are emphasized. In History classes and Writer's Workshops, students learn the crafts of the historian and the writer from the inside out. Through inquiry and lab experiments in science and applied tasks in mathematics, students gain a degree of mastery for the discipline of each subject through hard work, trial and error, and watchful mentoring.
With an average of over 10 years of teaching experience, our teachers bring a passion for learning that burns brightly. Ultimately, learning is a personal matter. The superior quality of academics and enrichment at DMS stems directly from the high personal standards and inquiring minds of its teachers. Our unique community of teachers has these essential qualities:
- Effective governance: Our staff meets around one small table to make decisions.
- Academic rigor: Small classes and teacher commitment forge a bold "skills driven" curriculum.
- Extensive arts and enrichment: DMS offers arts and enrichment of unrivaled breadth and depth.
- Respect: It is essential that teachers, parents, and students all respect each other in order to maximize the educational experience. Respect is earned by students and teachers alike.
- Accountability: Students do not slip through the cracks; they are held accountable for every assignment and for their behavior on a daily basis.
- Parent involvement: Our parents are allies for the common cause of educating their children. They readily communicate their concerns and ideas and participate in the educational process.
- Belonging: Every DMS student is a known and cherished entity and is thus nurtured.
