Latest News and Events of Dedham Country Day School Boston Area

DCD Students Show Their Knowledge of Geography in Annual Bee

DCD's Geography Bee took place Thursday, January 16, with students in Grades 4 through 8 vying for first place and the chance to go on to the statewide competition in the spring.

How Does a Five-year-old Learn Computational Thinking Skills?

It might just look like fun and games to the casual observer, but armed with iPads and Dash and Dot robots, kindergartners at DCD are doing some important developmental work building their computational thinking skills.

Light It Up! The Parents We Hope to Be

As parents and educators, we often hold two different goals side by side that can create some dynamic tension. On one hand, we try to shape our children and guide them towards values, behaviors, and attitudes that we believe and respect; we have conscious or unconscious ideas about who we hope our children will be. At the same time, we work to embrace our children for who they are, allowing them to become the fullest version of themselves. At times, these two goals can become inconsistent, since our children – in being fully themselves – may exhibit values, behaviors, and attitudes that do not align with our own or our hopes for our children. So what to do then? The way parents shape children, and in turn, the way children shape parents, is one of the most nuanced, challenging and beautiful aspects of parenting.

DCD’s Green Club Explores Composting

During Friday’s middle school service-learning afternoon, DCD’s Green Club met with Adam Jankauskasfrom City Compost to learn about the process and benefits of composting. Currently, City Compost is working with over 2000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts to collect food scraps and process this material into finished compost.

Middle School Fall Sports Wrap Up

92 athletes. 60 games. 7 meets. 11 coaches. 7 teams. 25 competing schools. 2 undefeated teams! That’s a wrap for DCD’s 2019 fall sports season!

Whether a seasoned athlete or new to a sport, students enjoyed a great season of competition and camaraderie participating in teams in soccer, field hockey, flag football, and cross country. For a small school, we are very proud of our middle school athletics program. DCD’s teacher/coach model enables a broad athletics offering as well as an opportunity for teachers and students to build special relationships and connections that span both the classroom and athletic field or track. “It’s really gratifying and productive to see and experience our students in a totally different context” notes Dan Balk, 6th-grade faculty member, and flag football coach.

Patriots Player stops by Special Olympics practice at DCD

Patriots player Obi Melifonwu stopped by DCD for the final Special Olympics flag football practice of the fall last Monday, a thrill for the five seventh-grade boys who have been playing with the team all fall as volunteers! Neil Burmeister, Willy Connors, LJ Gage, Owen Hotra, and Gabe Salfity made it to all the practices, which took place on Mondays this fall from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. on the front field at DCD.

An Undefeated Season for DCD’s Varsity Flag Football Team!

Finishing off the season with a final record of 12-0, DCD’s middle school Varsity Flag Football team had much to celebrate. In the last game of the season, DCD walked away with a hard-fought win against Thayer Academy. It was a competitive season overall; out of the twelve games played, five of them were won with nine points or less. This was clearly a hardworking team!

Can You Walk in a Senator’s Shoes?

DCD 8th graders had an opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a U.S. senator during their recent visit to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. Joining students from two other schools, they participated in The Senate Immersion Module which simulates the legislative process by which bills become laws and the president’s nominees for cabinet offices are confirmed.

Off-Campus Activities Promote Unity and Connection

After spending the summer apart, DCD middle-school faculty believe students need time together in an unstructured setting outside the classroom to reconnect and see each other differently. Recent off-campus activities undertaken by middle-school students accomplished just that by building unity and connection among students in each of their respective classes.

The Big Buddy Little Buddy Connection!

Friday, September 13, was a very special day for DCD eighth-graders and kindergarteners– Big Buddy-Little Buddy match up day! The cubby areas upstairs and downstairs were buzzing with excitement before first period when the buddies would meet for the first time.

DCD’s Big Buddy Little Buddy Program is cherished by students young and old! For the bigger kids, it’s an opportunity to serve as a role model for a younger student and to learn some important lessons about putting the needs of someone else before your own. And, for many eighth-graders, the memory of being a little buddy is still palpable!