Groton-Dunstable Regional High School
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Groton-Dunstable Regional High School (GDRHS) is a
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
located in Groton,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, United States, and serves the communities of Groton and
Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...
in the
Groton-Dunstable Regional School District Groton-Dunstable Regional School District is a school district in the US state of Massachusetts which serves the towns of Groton and Dunstable. History Old Groton School District By the 1750s Groton had been providing public schooling to its ...
. While GDRHS is the only
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
high school located within those communities students from Groton may also attend the public
Nashoba Valley Technical High School Nashoba Valley Technical High School is a four-year, public regional vocational high school located on Route 110 in Westford, Massachusetts, United States. Following a $25 million renovation and expansion, its service area covers 14 communities i ...
and students from Dunstable may attend the public
Greater Lowell Technical High School Greater Lowell Technical High School is a public vocational high school in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, United States, part of the Greater Lowell area. The school was founded in 1967 as Lowell Trade School, and then later became Greater Lowell Reg ...
. Approximately 810 students attend GDRHS and they are primarily graduates of Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School. GDRHS has a primarily college preparatory curriculum, with approximately 87% of its students attending four-year colleges and over 90% attending two- or four-year colleges upon graduation in 2010.


History

The earliest incarnation of GDRHS was as the
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
that was held in Groton town center for which there are funding records as far back as 1758. The residency of the grammar school migrated between the district schools and in 1808 was kept for four months in District school number 1, then two months in number 2, two months in number 3, and two months in number five. While Lawrence Academy had long provided private secondary school opportunities in town, a committee was appointed in November 1855 to consider establishing a new high school. On Monday, December 5, 1859 the first public high school opened in the lower hall of the Town House (Town Hall). For some time in the 1860s, the high school was held in the upper part of the Gerrish building at Groton Center, before moving into the new District Number 1 school, built in 1870 at a cost of $32,000. On March 2, 1874, the district schools, were named according to town vote with the high school being named Butler Grammar School after Caleb Butler, former principal of Lawrence Academy, and town historian. A new high school was built in 1927. Now known as the recently closed Prescott Elementary, it continued to be known as the Butler School for some time. The regional school district was established in 1967Groton-Dunstable Regional School Committee
with the high school located on Main St. in Groton. In 1997, the school adopted 4x4 block scheduling. In 1999, the "new gym" at the Main Street campus was renovated and renamed as the Peter Twomey Youth Center (PTYC) in order to honor a then recently deceased student. The PTYC is now "...a self-supporting facility that provides space for youth athletic leagues, adult education, and youth groups in Groton and Dunstable." With the student population expanding from 370 in 1993 to its current levels, a new building was needed. In 2003 at cost of $35 million, the high school relocated to its current location near the border between the two towns it serves.


Campus

GD's campus lies on Chicopee Row on the Groton side of the Groton-Dunstable border. The current site is just to the east of Reedy Meadow and its fields are bordered by eastern white pine, as well as vernal pools including Bauch Pond and the Ennis Puddle. Near the upper fields and entrance to the grounds is the "Spirit Rock", a large boulder which student groups and individuals have periodically repainted since the spring of 2007. The main campus building was designed by HMFH Architects to allow outside light into nearly every room and thus features windows along many interior walls. An exception to that rule is Mr. Donnelly's technology room as well as the Black Box Theater which hosts both school and local community performances. Also located within the school is
Public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
station, The Groton Channel. In November 2013, students and their families were notified that excessive levels of
coliform bacteria Coliform bacteria are defined as either motile or non-motile Gram-negative non- spore forming Bacilli that possess β-galactosidase to produce acids and gases under their optimal growth temperature of 35-37°C. They can be aerobes or facultative ...
had been detected in the school's water supply. The system was disinfected and the problem was apparently resolved. The quality of drinking water at the school had been a concern since the new building's completion in 2003.


Curriculum

Most Groton-Dunstable students undertake a
college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...
curriculum that includes four credits of English, three credits of
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, social sciences, and laboratory-based
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
s inscluding integrated science, two credits each of a single foreign language and physical/behavioral
health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
, one credit of fine
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
s and one half credit of computer applications. Seniors must also complete a senior project. As G-D is on a 4x4 block schedule, full credit courses are equivalent to a year-long course in a school with traditional 40-50 minute periods. A small number of students with significant special needs instead participate in the Life Skills Experiential Learning program. Students can choose from 11
advanced placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
coursesto earn college credits. The English department requires two courses focused on the role of the hero, one on American literature and one on Shakespeare and Chaucer. Electives include courses in both print and broadcast
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
, videography, film studies, theater arts, and
creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
classes along with an English literature AP course. The social studies core requires a credit in world history, and two in
United States history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...
. Humanities electives include contemporary issues, women's studies, economics, marketing and entrepreneurship, the student and the law, international business, accounting, modern European history, sociology, public speaking/debate and the U.S. History AP course. Groton-Dunstable's foreign language offerings include French, Spanish, and
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. There are AP electives for Latin and Spanish. Groton-Dunstable's science/technology department offers courses in molecular biology, anatomy & physiology, environmental studies, astronomy,
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
design & construction. Its AP offerings include biology, chemistry, environmental science and physics (C: Electricity and Magnetism). Through the math and business & technology departments, computer oriented electives include Java, digital imaging, and web page design. AP level courses are offered through the math department for both calculus tests as well as for statistics. The visual arts program includes sequences in studio art, design, and photography. Music courses include concert band, chorus and chamber chorus. In addition to the usual sports and conditioning options, the physical and behavioral health program provides courses in child development, health, life-management, and psychology.


Notable alumni

*
Kristen Gilbert Kristen Heather Gilbert ( Strickland; born November 13, 1967) is an American serial killer and former nurse who was convicted of four murders and two attempted murders of patients admitted to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Northamp ...
- serial killer *
Steve Kornacki Stephan Joseph Kornacki (born August 22, 1979) is an American political journalist, writer, and television presenter. Kornacki is a national political correspondent for NBC News. He has written articles for ''Salon'', ''The New York Observer'', ...
- political scientist and host of "Up With Steve Kornacki" on MSNBC *
Dan Shaughnessy Dan Shaughnessy (born July 20, 1953) is an American sports writer. He has covered the Boston Red Sox for ''The Boston Globe'' since 1981. In 2016, he was given the J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Shaughnessy is often refe ...
- sports journalist and television personality


Principals

*??David Quattrone *?1985Howard Gilmore *19851995William E. McGuirk *19952007Joseph P. Dillon, Oversaw transition to new building and campus. *20072010Shelley Marcus Cohen *20102011Stephen Dlott *20122016Michael Mastrullo *20162022Michael Woodlock *2022PresentStephen Sierpina


References


External links


Official site
{{authority control Schools in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Public high schools in Massachusetts Education in Groton, Massachusetts