Dorchester Times: Superintendent Schrunk: Help Us Grow Dorchester's School -- Be Part Of The Solution

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Superintendent Schrunk: Help Us Grow Dorchester's School -- Be Part Of The Solution

Today, we feature another editorial from Daryl Schrunk, who gives our readers his thoughts on Dorchester and its school after a year on the job. Schrunk took over as superintendent of Dorchester's K-12 school at the start of the 2016-2017 school year.

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My goal is to increase enrollment, yet retain the strength of small class sizes. I am encouraging all patrons to assist in this effort.

By reaching out to friends in neighboring communities and promoting the quality education we provide, we can meet this goal. In this joint effort, I hope to increase our K-12 enrollment to at least 200 students in two years (currently our K-12 enrollment is 180 students).

The short term fix lies in option enrollment, especially targeting 7-12 students, since this is where we have lower numbers.

Longer term fix needs to be focused on housing rehabilitation and development. Need to have attractive housing options to bring in families.

Ideally, the following needs to happen, with your help:

Keep the resident students in the district.
Bring back resident students who have opted-out.
Option-in students who can contribute positively to our district.

The state formula for Net Option students gives the school district approximately $10,000 per student. So if a school had a Net Option of five students, the school would get approximately $50,000 in additional funding. Currently, Dorchester gets $0 for option students as our number of students who option-in compared to the number of students who option-out is equal.

Do you know of a student in a nearby school district who would benefit by optioning-in to Dorchester? If so, click here for the option enrollment form, which is due March 15. Call 402-946-2781 for assistance.

A patron recently asked me how many students we could have enrolled at one time without adding costs of staffing and facilities. There are obviously various factors to consider, especially the needs of the uniqueness of every student. However, I immediately answered him by saying 250 students. This would be class sizes averaging 18-20 students per grade level (currently we average 13 students per grade level). This may seem like a lofty goal but it is definitely possible with a commitment by the school and community to build and sustain our safe, caring town.

Dorchester Public School enrollment since 2002-03. Click to see a larger image.

Dorchester Public Schools are fortunate to offer so many extra-curricular activities for our students. A strength of a small school is the opportunity to participate in so many activities. Please continue to encourage our youth to participate in as many activities during their time at DPS. We believe that some of the most important life skills are learned through these experiences.

Dorchester offers the following extra curricular activities: Football, Volleyball, FBLA, Jr. High Football, Jr. High Volleyball, Student Council, Wresting, Girls & Boys Basketball, Science Olympiad, Jr. High Wrestling, Jr. High Basketball, Electronic Vehicle, Track, One-Act Play, Quiz Bowl, Jr. High Track, Jr. High Play, Spring Play, Journalism, Speech, Elementary Honor Choir, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, D-Club, Jr. High Vocal Music, Jr. High Instrumental Music, Reading Classic, National Honor Society (NHS), High Ability Learners (HAL), Jr. High Quiz Bowl.

Daryl Schrunk

Superintendent
(402) 946-2781

dschrunk@dorchesterschool.org

Dorchester offers a quality education, supportive staff, new facilities, advanced technology and many opportunities for students in grades pre-Kindergarten through grade 12. At Dorchester, every student truly matters.

5 comments:

AnonymousJanuary 24, 2018 at 10:26 AM
The key to bringing in students is bringing in good kids and families. Let's not bring in everyone to make a little extra money
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AnonymousJanuary 25, 2018 at 9:17 AM
I agree with the first statement. We don't need to bring in other kids who have gotten in trouble somewhere else.
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AnonymousFebruary 13, 2018 at 11:42 PM
It's nice to have a superintendent that is positive and wants to grow the district. Our neighbor to the west is doing just the opposite, trying to get rid of good teachers, principals and programs. Maybe we can get some of the students and families they lose.
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AnonymousFebruary 16, 2018 at 3:07 PM
I like his statement, "Longer term fix needs to be focused on housing rehabilitation and development. Need to have attractive housing options to bring in families."

Does anyone know if any movement on this is happening in Dorchester?
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AnonymousFebruary 18, 2018 at 8:14 AM
Is it true that Dorchester has 15-20 vacant homes that could be remodeled (sold) or demolished (lot to build on)?
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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."