Dorchester Times: New School Year Brings Some Policy Changes To DPS

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

New School Year Brings Some Policy Changes To DPS

In less than one week, the school bells will ring again at Dorchester Public

School. Students will return to classes on Monday, August 20.

According to the Dorchester School newsletter, there are several changes that parents and students should note:

School will begin at 8:10 a.m. this year for both elementary and junior/high school students.

Dorchester Public Schools will have a close campus this year. All students, except seniors, must remain on campus throughout the school day. Students may not walk home or downtown for lunch.

Parents must call the school office by 9 a.m. if their student is going to be absent. The school will likely contact you if they have not heard from an absent student's parents by 9 a.m.

Under new state law that took effect last year, students entering school for the first time, including kindergartners and transfer students from out of state, must provide proof of a vision evaluation within six months prior to the student starting school. The vision evaluation is in addition to the physical exam.

For details on these changes, as well as school supply requirements, sports schedules and other important information, see the August-September edition of the school newsletter.

5 comments:

AnonymousAugust 14, 2007 at 3:34 PM
Some schools are requiring student bookbags or backpacks be clear plastic or mesh. That's something all schools should require in this day and age. Maybe the board can look into making that mandatory.
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AnonymousAugust 18, 2007 at 8:00 PM
ISNT THERE MORE TO TALK ABOUT BUT THE SCHOOL THING, ITS GETTING OLD.
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AnonymousAugust 20, 2007 at 8:03 PM
no way anonymous! Education is one of the most important things in society! Finding a way to improve education should be a top priority for everyone. It is not getting old. What is getting old is everyone posting about how this issue should take the back burner yet they are to ignorant to learn anything about it!
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AnonymousAugust 21, 2007 at 10:24 AM
Hey anonymous: What do school policies have to do with the construction issue? Read the story before you comment IN ALL CAPS.
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AnonymousAugust 24, 2007 at 12:09 PM
iam for the school, but why werent there any other bids, there are alot of builders out there, that are very good, was this done, it would be nice to compare prices, i havent heard of any other bids as of yet, and why if there were, can they be made public, to everyone.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."