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At a recent Board of Education meeting for Dewey Public Schools, High School Principal Brent Dugger gave a presentation on the schools 2018-2019 State Report Card.

The Pre-ACT is taken by every sophomore at Dewey High. Principal Dugger said there are better tools to help these students take the ACT when they enter their junior year. He said ACT Academy is a free, web-based service that acts like Google Classroom.

Principal Dugger said they create the accounts for the students, take their Pre-ACT scores and plug those scores into the ACT Academy, which designs lessons for the students to take to help them prepare for the ACT. He said they have also created a remediation ACT Prep course at Dewey High.

This remediation is for current juniors. Principal Dugger said they saw specific struggles with the ELA, so they made a mandatory remediation class for those students. He said they are still looking at what Oklahoma Academic Standards are most testable on the ACT.

A bell ringing software piece has been purchased that helps prepare students for the ACT. Time is, and has always been, a factor when taking the ACT. Principal Dugger said they hope that this software will help students answer questions on the ACT quickly, but efficiently.

This is also the first year where Dewey High School has all of their post-secondary opportunities available for students. The biggest post-secondary opportunity is the new internship program DHS has implemented.

Two students work at the Jane Phillips Medical Center, three students work at Phillips 66, three work at the YMCA in Bartlesville, and two to three students have worked with Dr. Nathan Bulleigh at Dewey Dental. Principal Dugger said student have also worked with Dr. Stites of Dewey Veterinary Clinic. He said seniors that have an interest in a teacher internship are put in such a class as well.

Principal Dugger said local businesses have been awesome to work with in making the internship program possible for Dewey High School students. He added that there are 42 students that are taking concurrent course. There are 39 students enrolled at Tri County Tech.

OK Career Guide has been utilized by the school for younger students. Principal Dugger said they are exposing students to different interest inventories. He said they are helping the kids figure out what “year five” looks like for them outside of high school.

Lastly, there was the emphasis on chronic absenteeism. In his presentation, Principal Dugger said last year was the based year for Dewey High in terms of measuring chronic absenteeism. He said all three counselors at the school are going to a training in February on the matter, which is one of many ways they are tackling the topic.

A communication piece is big for Dewey High when it comes to correcting chronic absenteeism. Principal Dugger said in August, any student that was at risk during pre-enrollment met with Mr. Stowe. That communication would continue throughout the school year, but if a student goes beyond the eight school absences they are allotted per semester, Mr. Stowe will meet with the student individually.

Face-to-face and phone calls is how Principal Dugger said they will keep battling chronic absenteeism at Dewey High School.