Principal’s Message
Dixie Families –
As this school year winds down, I cannot thank you all enough for your continued support of our efforts here to make Dixie a great high school that we can all be proud of.
You may not know that Dixie is slated to have the highest enrollment increase among high schools for next year, a real tribute to what we’re doing and the good vibes that people in the community have about Dixie.
The growth of our magnet programs and the number of inquiries we get each day about Dixie is evidence of the great work that everyone is doing to get the word out about our school’s improvements.
Before I provide you with a few key updates heading into the summer, please allow me to take a moment and thank our teaching staff for their continued dedication. They are the most talented and dedicated group of teachers anywhere in the county. If you ever have the chance, please take a moment and thank them for their work.
Spring / Summer Updates
- Testing, Testing, Testing: As the years ends, we will continue to be in testing mode throughout the month of May. We believe strongly in our students’ abilities to learn and our teachers’ efforts to help our kids know what is expected of them on the state tests.
- Scheduling for next year: We expect to remain on the 8-period schedule for next year and remain a block schedule. The published starting and ending times for our students are as follows: 7:05 a.m. until 2:05 p.m. (with no early release on Wednesdays). Parents of our returning students should know that your sons or daughters will have completed their course schedules for next year by the time school ends in June. Please communicate immediately with your child’s counselor if you have any questions about next year’s schedule choices.
- Magnet programs / openings: We continue to have great interest in our application programs for next year – Culinary Arts, Graphic Arts and Cambridge. There are limited seats available in those programs for next year if you know of a strong student in the community who is still searching for a good school for next year. Anyone can call the school to inquire and simply ask for our magnet office.
- Campus Improvements: The exterior painting of the school is nearing completion and it looks great. The new security system is also complete, with more than 90 new, high-end cameras installed on our campus. Other campus improvements will continue into next year until our plan for a first-rate campus is complete.
- School Grade: Dixie has had a C grade for the past two years after seven years with a D grade. While we are excited to have our C, we have our sights next on obtaining a B and then an A grade. While we won’t know our school grade for this year until we return in the fall, we expect to have a realistic shot at the B grade. If we don’t quite make it, you can be assured that we will be there soon. I look forward to celebrating with you when we reach this next milestone.
As always, we cannot make this school great without the help and support of our parents and community members. Please continue to support our efforts here and speak proudly of our school when you are out in the community. That kind of energy and enthusiasm is contagious!
As we have discussed before, our faculty and staff has an aggressive plan for continued improvement here and we are working through that plan until we reach our goal of being the best of the best!
Regards to each of you!
Dr. Evans