History and tradition. Two words that fully capture what Dobbs Ferry is all about. From our graduations at the Waterfront to our football games at Gould Park, DFHS holds a long and proud history that truly unites us as we bridge the past with the present. To that end, our ability to join together in times of need and for important causes is one of the many qualities that makes our school community so special and unique. At the core of the IB Program is the importance of compelling students to “think globally while acting locally,” and MAC Day is just one of the many ways that our students join to promote unity while making a positive difference in the broader community. In doing so, our students remember a beloved figure in our history, Coach James Mackenzie, who served as the inspiration for our first MAC Day all they way back in 2006.

So who is Coach Mac, and why do we have this day at DFHS? 

In May of 2006, tragedy struck Dobbs Ferry when we lost our football coach, teacher, mentor, and friend Coach Mac. This loss was not only difficult for his football players, but also the student body and faculty of our high school. Coach Mac made an impact on every individual he encountered here in Dobbs Ferry. His personality was infectious. He had a larger than life aura and it was impossible for any person he met to forget him. Many would say it was his unique look and the “handlebar” mustache. Others might say that it was the fact that he would be wearing shorts on a sub-zero degree day in January. Those that knew him best though would argue that it was because he made every single person he came across feel important.  He made people, no matter who they were, where they came from, what their situation may have been, feel that they mattered. He represented caring, togetherness, and community. He represented the very best of Dobbs Ferry. He represented what we are all about, and what we always strive to be.

In the summer of 2006, just prior to the start of school, the students of DFHS came together to honor Coach Mac for all that he had done for them and for this school. They decided to name an annual field day in his memory, and the following year, on Friday, September 21, 2006, Fox 5 NY had its morning show Good Day NY broadcast live from our turf during our second MAC Day. The school spirit could be felt everywhere throughout town. It was a fitting celebration of Coach Mac, and a wonderful way for our school and community to show everyone what Dobbs was all about.

Fast forward to present day and our school is now prepared for our 20th MAC Field Day. In past years, our students have used this occasion as a  vehicle for supporting an important global cause within our local school community. This year, our students are joining together to raise money to support mental health and awareness with the JCK Foundation. As always, our mission is to promote service learning and civic engagement while emphasizing the importance of making a difference within our local community. In this way, our school is combining efforts in tandem with both JCK and our new Legends Ambassadors Club. Our current students are already part of our school’s rich history, and continue to find new ways to give back while aiming to inspire future generations in the same way that past generations have inspired them. This is just another example.

In addition, our 20th MAC Day will truly have “something for everyone” as the students in our Activities Branch, led by Maria Addona, continue to design new activities based on student interest. In addition to the many traditional “field day” events that we have each year, our 20th MAC Day will also feature a talent show, a Scavenger Hunt led by our Hands-In Service Club, Penny Wars led by our FUNDraising Club, a simulation goggle station hosted by our Youth-to-Youth Club, arts and crafts, poetry writing hosted by our Slam Poetry Club, and of course our culminating pep rally.

This year truly promises to be our best MAC Day yet as we not only unite and celebrate a beloved figure in our school’s history, but also celebrate our own perseverance and wellness by truly supporting one another. There is truly no place like Dobbs, and MAC Day is just one of many examples of what separates our school community from all the rest!

Remarks to the DFHS Class of 2024…

To the Board of Education, Superintendent Slentz, Administration, Faculty members, Parents, Family members, Friends, Students, and Graduates…

When we think about our village of Dobbs Ferry, and our of course our high school that has stood proudly on Broadway since it was completed 90 year ago in 1934, words like tradition, pride, community, and family immediately come to mind. Whether you have lived in this community your whole life, which many of you have, or moved here more recently, the timeless and nostalgic feel of our village can be immediately felt and what makes Dobbs Ferry truly a unique jewel of a community.

Our high school recently celebrated our 25^th anniversary as an IB World School, and for me, I just completed by 25^th year in education, and my 13^th as the principal of our amazing high school. In so many ways, Dobbs Ferry has become my home, it is the place where I have made my life’s work, and it continues to be an honor to serve this community.

To our students, the 123^rd group of graduates from our Dobbs Ferry Schools, you now join a long line of graduates who will always call Dobbs Ferry their home, and who have since left our school and gone on to live incredible lives in all parts of the world. Like so many of them, the journey for you began at Springhurst, and on Thursday you walked through the hallways of that special school for the final time as students in our Dobbs Ferry Schools. The Springhurst Walk is a tradition that we started with the Class of 2016, when all of you were in 4^th grade, and it provides final opportunity to go back to where it all started, to see and thank your former teachers before moving on to the next chapter, and of course you got to hear and sing “I remember Springhurst” one final time. In every way, it connects the past with the present, while allowing you to come full circle to the school that was your first home here in Dobbs Ferry.

Bridging the past with the present, coupled with the importance of staying connected to our roots and our home, is a consistent theme that fully captures the essence of what it means to be from Dobbs Ferry. This graduating class, comprised of only 88 students, is in many ways a throwback to the small graduating classes that were typical of our high school many decades ago. However, regardless of the class size, one thing that has always been consistent is the close friendships, connections, and bonds between our students. For so many of you, this comes as a result of moving along through school starting at kindergarten, and it includes countless playdates, parties, teams, and events that you experienced together over the last thirteen years. For the first time, you are moving in different directions, but the bonds that have been built will always remain, and regardless of the road that each of your takes, Dobbs Ferry will always be your home, and for many of you, the place that you will always hold closest to your heart.

Earlier this year, I received a letter from the daughter of Elbano Joseph Schezzini. “Al,” as his Dobbs friends called him, was a graduate of our Dobbs Ferry High School Class of 1948, and she reached out to me on his behalf soon after he passed away to both share his story and, more importantly, his personal belongings from his Dobbs Ferry years that he kept with him and cherished for his whole life because of how much this our high school meant to him. During his years in Dobbs, Al was an athlete, and his friends called him “Cavalo,” the Italian word for horse, because of how fast he could run. And in that package we found pictures, including one from his football days that was taken behind our school before a game against Hastings, along with his high school diploma, class photos, pictures from his baseball team where he was one of the “four horsemen” on that year’s team, his class ring, his draft card from when he served in the Air Force during the Korean War, and even his American Legion Cap which he wore proudly on Veterans Day each year.  All of these items are currently displayed in a case on the second floor of our school where Al likely walked past every day because the main building really hasn’t changed at all since that time.

After sharing his story of a beautiful life lived in a touching letter, his daughter, whose name is Sabrina, concluded, “while my dad lost touch with his old friends when he moved to Florida, he never forgot the love of his hometown, and his pride in it. When he passed away, all of these items that I’m sharing were included in his most treasured belongings, and I felt that the only right thing to do would be to return them to the school. After all, his history is the school’s history, AS ARE all of you who attend DFHS today. So this is my father, who walked these halls and played these field and loved this place. You could call him Elbano, or Cavalo, and he’d answer. But mostly, his friends would just call him Al.”

So why do I share this with all of you, our graduates? I share this to remind you that as members of our Dobbs Ferry community, and for you as graduates, we are all part of something that is so much bigger than any of us as individuals. For over a century Dobbs Ferry High School has been the place that so many have called home, and all of you are a product of the lasting legacy and mark that was made by generations of Dobbs Ferry graduates, teachers, leaders, board members, and members of our school community who came before you. And now, you join the long and proud tradition of graduates, and like them, your legacy will be forever imprinted on our school based not only on what you have accomplished while here, but more importantly on the life that you lead upon leaving us, and all that you will go on to do and accomplish outside of this local community.

And as you go out and do just that, and as you now prepare to scatter in 88 different directions and carve your own individual paths, never lose that connection to your home, and never forget the friends around you who were there since the very beginning. Because while you will go on to meet so many new amazing people in your life and make so many new friends, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, like the childhood friends that you have beside you, and they are irreplaceable. Earlier this year many of you had the chance to meet a group of graduates from our Class of 1962. We watched as they laughed, shared inside jokes, and recalled moments and memories from over fifty years ago. It was a beautiful thing to watch, and what was most striking was that all of these people, now into their late seventies, shared a close bond that was unbreakable because of their childhood spent here in Dobbs Ferry. For them, Dobbs Ferry would always be their home.

For this class of 88 students, my advice and hope is that you do the same, and as you move on to new endeavors that will likely take you to all corners of the world, never lose touch, be there for one another, support one another, cry on each shoulders if its needed, and laugh with one another as much as possible. Because the people sitting here today are your home, just as it has been for thousands of Dobbs Ferry graduates who have become before you.

And with that, I’ll close by congratulating all of you, our graduates, on successfully navigating and completing this important chapter in your lives. Like so many before you, including the members from that graduating Class of 1962, as well as Al from the Class of 1948, go out and live an amazing life. Don’t take the time that you have for granted, stay present in the moment, set goals, chase your dreams, and always remember that Dobbs Ferry is your home, and one day this graduating class can come back when all of you are in your late seventies, and speak to the future Dobbs Ferry High School Class of 2074. Hopefully I’ll still be around to join you for that.

It has been an honor to serve as your principal over these past four years, I thank you for allowing me to be part of such an important time in your lives, and I wish you the very best as you leave all of us here today.

Congratulations to each and every one of you, the Dobbs Ferry High School Class of 2024.

The tragic and unspeakable events that took place over the weekend in Israel leading to the outbreak of war has hit home for so many of us here in Dobbs. While several of you have direct connections to these events, all of us are wrestling with the emotions and uncertainty that goes along with trying to process the senseless violence that we are watching unfold. As a school and community, we condemn all forms of war and violence and urge all of you to stand together and support one another during this difficult time. 

DFHS was way ahead of its time back in 1998 when we were first authorized as an IB World School. The IB mission of “creating a better and more peaceful world” attracted the program to Dobbs Ferry, and that same mission and message of peace is more relevant today than perhaps ever before. As the Israeli-Hamas War continues to escalate, and with that more violence and division, all of you as IB students are positioned to be true leaders who promote unity, togetherness, and peace while effectuating positive and lasting change in all corners of the world. As the next generations of adults who will soon be charged to lead this world, your actions today can serve as a model for others, and in turn inspire long-term change at all levels within our society.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you need support, have questions, or just need to process these challenging times. We are truly in this together.

Be well, and keep looking out for each other.

Sincerely,

Dr. Falino

This year’s IB Global Conference (#IBGC2023) in the beautiful city of Toronto is once again buzzing with energy as IB educators are in-person for the second time since the pandemic to share their stories, experiences, and examples of best practice. For me, this is my first IB Global Conference since 2019 so the chance to be here with colleagues after four long years away makes this trip all the more sweet. This year’s conference theme, “Education for an Inclusive Future” is both timely and practical considering the massive innovation and change that was forced upon all school districts in March, 2020. For some, the change was rocky, but for others, including IB World Schools like ours, the change was smoother and much more seamless. This is a direct credit to the IB philosophy with regard to teaching, learning, and assessment. It was also a reminder to all of us that the question of “Why IB?” isn’t much of a question at all. The answer is obvious.

In 2013, I wrote a piece after the conference in New Orleans that addressed the “Why IB?” question for the first time. Four years later, I came back to this question as our team presented at the IB World Conference in Orlando, and I now find myself coming back to it once again as we have moved beyond the pandemic. Similar to how I felt in both 2013 and 2017, the question of “Why IB?” is an important one as we continue to consider what is best for all of our students in what is clearly an ever changing landscape. Navigating the pandemic as an IB World School only further confirmed this point. While so many students and teachers struggled with a curriculum and program that was “test driven” and rigid during that time, our IB students were provided with flexible approaches that included a focus on academic skills, an emphasis on mental wellness, and a “non-examination” route that best honored the work of our students. All of this helped to greatly offset student stress while inspiring learning and, perhaps most importantly, providing certainty in the most uncertain of times.

Over the past ten years, our school (and district) tripled our overall participation in the IB Diploma Program, we became fully authorized in the IB Middle Years Program (MYP) in 2016, and our efforts were recognized when we earned a National Blue Ribbon in 2020. To put it plainly, we are “all in” with regard to IB and we believe that all of our students are better prepared as a result of attending an IB World School. That was certainly the case during the pandemic, and it continues to be the case as we get back to a new feeling of “normal” in our schools and around the world. 

So “Why IB?” Here’s why…

The Program is Fully Inclusive: Perhaps the greatest quality of the IB Program is that all students receive meaningful and equitable access to the curriculum. At DFHS, all students enroll in at least two IB DP courses, all of our teachers are IB trained (including special education), students take an average of over four IB DP courses before graduating, and all students fully access the IB MYP while completing a Personal Project. In 2023, DFHS had 55 students pursue a full IB Diploma (48% of our students!), and we registered 605 IB DP subject areas overall (average of 4.6 per student). Both of these statistics represent an all-time high for our school, and are truly a result of the the focused and dedicated “IB for All” philosophy that is held by our entire staff.

In addition, the qualities that are outlined in the IB Learner Profile, coupled with our earlier work using the IB Excellence and Equity Framework (E2), made our recent district wide focus on DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) a natural one for our school. As always, our focus continues to be on creating a welcoming environment for all students while providing a curriculum that is truly representative of the diverse student body that we have at DFHS. This approach and philosophy is at the very core of the IB, and it is precisely what set our school apart from the rest when we were awarded a National Blue Ribbon in 2020. 

It Promotes International Mindedness: The curriculum and pedagogy of the IB focuses on international perspectives while emphasizing the importance of students exploring their home culture and language. A fundamental IB principle is for students to “think globally and act locally,” and at DFHS we provide all students with “IB CAS” experiences in addition to the more formalized venture that all sophomores engage with upon completion of the IB MYP Personal Project. In doing so, service learning is embedded into all aspects of our curriculum, and our “Hands In Dobbs Ferry” service learning club (see @Mrs_Fahy Twitter page!) now has the highest level of student participation as compared to all of our co-curricular clubs. In Dobbs Ferry, this mindset has prompted our students to make incredible contributions within our village while allowing them to focus on the implications of their actions on a global level. Over the past few years we have also seen a rise in both new students and exchange students from around the world who have chosen to attend our school because we are an IB World School. This new development has not added to the richness and diversity of our school community, but has further allowed our students to examine all core disciplines from multiple perspectives and respective “ways of knowing.”

21^st Century Learning: The theme of this year’s conference, “Education for an Inclusive Future,” speaks once again to the IB’s commitment to preparing students with the skills needed for success beyond the brick and mortar of schools so that they may make a difference in all corners of the world. DFHS was well ahead of the curve on this front when we introduced a full 1:1 Chromebook program back in 2013, and we shared our story at the IB World Conference in Chicago in 2015. Our focus at that time was on how our 1:1 further promoted equity while allowing students to further develop the ever important 21st century “ATL” skills. Those same skills, as it turned out five years later, were put to the test and were ultimately on full display as we navigated the pandemic with greater ease and continuity than most other districts. As we now move to a “post-pandemic” world that is radically different from what we knew only a few years ago, this current generation of students will continue to compete for jobs and services that are yet to exist. In doing so, those same skills will once again be called upon as they will need to adapt, solve problems, collaborate, and communicate with colleagues in what is now a full interdependent world. 

The Research is Growing: A great deal of research has been conducted by the IB and outside agencies to determine the degree to which students are prepared for success in the more competitive colleges and universities in the world. Findings repeatedly show that IB students are not only accepted at higher rates, but graduate within four years at a higher percentage and with higher overall grade point averages. This point has been verified to us by our own graduates who come back to our school each year to discuss the high level of preparation that they had as a result of the IB DP and how, in some instances, they felt “over-prepared.” I first wrote about this topic nine years ago (check out the post “Why IB: Student Perspectives” (12/20/13) for more) and am planning to once again solicit this qualitative data from our recent graduates when we return next year. 

The IB Community: IB teachers are members of a special community of educators from around the world. As such, teachers are able to network and collaborate with colleagues that are both local and overseas, and this was especially an advantage for us as we navigated the pandemic. This year’s conference will be a wonderful opportunity to see some of the colleagues that we met during the pandemic “in person” for the first time. In addition to traditional “training,” all IB teachers participate in roundtable discussions with colleagues from local schools and have access to the My IB. This resource provides IB teachers with resources, updates, a robust program resource center, and an opportunity to connect with other IB teachers and Heads of School from around the world.

The DFHS “IB for All” story is one that we are proud of and one that has been well documented on this page over the past decade. Some earlier posts include:

• Why IB? (IB vs. AP) (10/3/22)
• IB for All: Service Learning at DFHS (1/14/22)
• IB for All: The MYP Personal Project (12/18/21)
• Our DFHS Story: The 1:1 Chromebook Program (9/6/20)
• Promoting Well-Being at #DFHSIB20 (5/8/19)
• Recap from #IBORL2017: A Special Educator’s Story (7/17/18)
• The IB Connection: DFHS Science Research (11/13/17)
• Embracing IB for All: Our Story (4/10/2017)
• IB vs. AP: Going All In With IB (10/12/16)
• IB MYP: Gearing Up for Authorization (12/18/15)

There’s also much more! Please feel free to DM me at any time via Twitter @johnfalino1. Have a great conference!

This is a follow-up to the piece that I wrote back in February on personal devices inside of the classroom. It is also part of an email that I sent to the staff this morning on the topic. As noted, personal devices have been an ongoing topic for our school this year and our Digital Citizenship Team met several times to unpack the following two questions:

• Are cell phones impacting students’ social and emotional development?
• Are cell phones impacting student performance?

In order to better understand the context of this work, it’s important to first understand the history in terms of how technology has truly taken off in our school in the past 10+ years.

DFHS: Early Years

DFHS was one of the early innovators in Westchester County (and nationally) when we moved to being both a BYOD (“Bring Your Own Device”) school as well as a full one-to-one Chromebook school starting in 2013. Between the years of 2013-2017, our focus was on how technology could be used as a tool to enhance student learning. This was where we placed most of our focus in terms of professional development, it was the focus of my dissertation at the time, and our school became a model for how to use technology responsibly and as a tool for enhancing the development of Wagner’s 21st century “survival skills.” We presented nationally at conferences on this topic (including IB), we positioned our one-to-one as a vehicle for promoting equity and access, we chose technology as a focus for one of our Tri-States visits (and we were lauded for our work), we hosted several site visits for districts who were trying to follow in our footsteps, we encouraged the use of cell phones for things like in-class “tweet chats,” and we focused on digital citizenship to ensure appropriate use and creating a positive “digital footprint.” 

Starting to Rethink the Shift

By around 2018-19, we started to notice that the radical technology shift had happened perhaps a bit too quickly in certain respects, and we started to discuss approaches for blending what might be considered more traditional approaches while still enjoying the enhancements that instructional technology was providing. At this point, our school was fully one-to-one, all teachers were using Google Classroom, and operating out of the Google suite of applications was commonplace. In many ways, the Chromebook had replaced the traditional looseleaf binder that we all grew up carrying. Areas that we looked at, for example, were reintroducing more “pen-to-paper” writing as opposed to leaning so heavily on Google Docs. Around this time, we also did a summer student and faculty read of the book How to Break Up With Your Phone. While we certainly noticed a major uptick in student cell phone use at this time, we also were reflective enough to realize that the “addiction” applied to us as adults as much as anyone else. 

The Pandemic

When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, DFHS was better positioned than most schools because we had been so progressive in the years prior. Whereas many districts struggled and scrambled to transition, DFHS had a very small learning curve as all students had devices, we were fully operational using all Google Apps, and communication was effortless due to Google Classroom. Our work at that time focused exclusively on remote learning, and more specifically how to provide students with the most robust and effective synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences in a remote setting. We also shifted seamlessly in the “social” side of things as our school (and district) had always been so proactive with leveraging social media to unite our school community. The DFHSVirutalCommons, for example, was born during the pandemic. Given all of that, and not surprisingly, DFHS knocked it out of the park during this time, and we continued with a mostly online instructional model during the first half of the 2020-21 school year as a result. 

Pandemic Fallout 

When we returned back to full in-person learning during the latter part of 2021 and officially during the 2021-22 school year, we noticed right away that there were large learning gaps that came as a result of the time away from school. This was (is) a national issue, of course, and not one that is DFHS specific. We also noticed that students (adults too) had become increasingly distracted by personal devices (cell phones). This isn’t surprising since we all had access to our phones during online meetings and classes and became accustomed to simultaneously looking at devices (or multitasking on one screen) when online classes and/or meetings were taking place. When in-person learning resumed, it became a real challenge to “unlearn” this behavior, and in ways everyone has had to negotiate this personal challenge as a result. 

Our Responsibility

Similar to where we were a little less than a decade ago, it’s once again our responsibility to teach positive digital citizenship so that students are best prepared for life beyond high school, including college, the workplace, and even personal interactions. The good news is that we continue to do a great job of addressing areas such as appropriate online interactions, creating a positive digital footprint and image, and how to appropriately manage and balance online access to information in our school setting. With regard to the latter, we are seeing a major shift (and challenge) that seems to have happened virtually overnight with ChatGBT. Such is the nature of the rapidity of technology. 

Another area that we are also dealing with, and one that is perhaps a bit more immediate and pressing since it is in front of our faces daily, is the potential distraction that personal devices might have for students when they are not needed during classroom instruction. Again, this seemingly dramatic shift isn’t surprising given the two-year “online” world that we all lived in during the pandemic. As a result, it is this area that our digital citizenship team has chosen to focus on, and it is one that we are hoping to tackle aggressively at the start of next year. 

Next Steps

In thinking about how to best educate our students on the topic while providing clear messaging that will help to support a shift in behavior, we have identified some clear steps that we can take at the start of next year. In doing so, we fully understand that every teacher has discretion for how to best manage their respective classroom space, and as a principal I have always trusted teachers to make professional choices and supported teachers in those decisions. This situation is no different. Given that, here are some next steps that we will take for next year:

1) Support Classroom Policies: First and foremost, I’ll always support classroom policies and procedures that teachers have in place. This includes areas such as grading policies, class rules, behavioral expectations, and cell phone policies. In other words, with regard to the latter, if a student is insubordinate in any way and in-class interventions were determined to be unproductive, we will also support escalating the issue at a school level as per our code of conduct. Similarly, I will always support grading policies that connect behavior expectations/participation. Simply stated, there should always be an impact on the quarter grade if a student does not comply with class rules, procedures, and policies. This is always something that I included as a classroom teacher and it was in part why we created the participation rubric many years ago.

2) Develop Common Practices and Norms: Building upon the point above, the digital citizenship team plans to continue this work with our teacher leaders (and all teachers) on developing proven practices, strategies, and norms that work with regard to personal devices. The more consistent we are the better.

3) Phone Holders: Many of you already have phone holders in your classroom that you may (or may not) require that students use when entering the classroom. For September, we will purchase enough so that every teacher can have one if so desired.

4) Universal Messaging: In my welcome back email to parents and students, I will provide messaging around the distraction that personal devices have had on student learning. With that, I will explain that students must comply if teachers or staff request that students put devices away. Failure to do so can result in insubordination and will be addressed via the code of conduct. 

5) Education: I’m including this last but honestly it’s the most important of all. We need to think about the digital citizenship aspect of this so that we can proactively educate students on how to best manage distraction. For example, we might think about another summer read (or fall read) of the book How to Break Up With Your Phone. Or maybe we do this as a staff read to start instead. Truth is, we all can be easily distracted by our devices, and I’m definitely included in that. 

It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years since I started this blog. Over the past decade I’ve been privileged to share the DFHS journey on so many topics, including our IB DP and MYP Programs, our shift to a one-to-one environment that blended both Chromebooks and BYOD, and the long list of schoolwide activities, initiatives, and lessons that helped to capture the “story” of our school. In looking back at some of the posts from 2013 to around 2018, there was so much talk in those days about the power of technology, leveraging personal devices in order to enhance learning, and of course the “survival” skills that students would need beyond the walls of our school. While many of those principles still hold true, and while we clearly witnessed the critical role of technology during the pandemic, many high schools are now faced with some new concerns, questions, and perhaps lessons that are perhaps an unintended result of moving too quickly with technology. 

Since returning to in-person learning, a challenge that our staff is continually raising involves the distraction (addiction?) that personal devices now have for so many students in our classrooms. This shouldn’t surprise anyone since students were on their phones non-stop while being forced to stay home during the pandemic. This is coupled by the fact that we are now working with a generation of students who have had access to iPhones and iPads for their entire life. Having a device in hand, all day every day, is truly all that our students know at this point. So what to do? 

Our Digital Citizenship Committee has been tackling this question for the past several months and we have identified some strategies for turning this challenge into a learning experience for our students. The following is an excerpt of an email that I sent to our staff a few days ago that helps to contextualize the shift, share the historical context for our newer staff, and of course to discuss some immediate next steps that we are looking to take. 

My suspicion is that most public high schools have had a similar journey and are now facing similar challenges…

Historical Context 

DFHS was far ahead of the curve in 2012 when we made a commitment to one-to-one technology in our school (and district). At that time, our hallways were filled with “no cell phone zone” signs and we were way behind the times as far as how we were responding to what was fast becoming a whole new landscape in education. During that same year, we provided all teachers and staff with a brand new MacBook (a luxury we still enjoy), we took to social media with Twitter accounts that most teachers still use, and we piloted a one-to-one Chromebook program with our 9th graders while using a BYOD (“Bring Your Own Device”) approach in our other grades. 

We also spent a great deal of time in those early years discussing digital citizenship, and an important part of that discussion was rooted in the understanding that we were preparing students to enter a world (college, workplace, etc.) where they would always have a personal device in their hands. While personal devices offered wonderful opportunities in terms of always having access to information, it also raised important questions (and subsequent lessons) around distraction, managing urges appropriately, and of course creating a positive digital footprint for the world to see. 

By 2016, DFHS was a full one-to-one school and we quickly became a “school to visit” for many districts who were moving in this direction. We had fully transitioned to Google Classroom and Gmail at that point, and we also presented to a packed house at the IB World Conference in Chicago that year on this topic. It was also the focus of our Tri-States visit in 2017. At the time, in terms of “IB for All,” our work as a one-to-one school further connected to our goal of promoting equity and access for all students. 

The Pandemic

All of the work that our school (and district) had put in from 2012-2019 was truly put to the test in March of 2020 when the world went remote. While so many schools in our county (and nation) struggled with this transition, our teachers and staff were quick to spring into action so that the shift was significantly less bumpy for our students. All teachers were already fully operating out of Google Classroom, all students and teachers had been working with Chromebooks for years, and many of our teachers had become true “stars” in terms of using educational technology as a vehicle for enhancing student learning. As a result, we quickly created a plan for synchronous and asynchronous learning, and our focus for the next year was on how to become the most dynamic and impactful “remote teachers” given the multitude of limitations that were out of our control. All of these efforts resulted in learning experiences for our students that were predictable, certain, and ongoing so that content and skill acquisition could be maximized as appropriate at the high school level. 

Fast forward to the spring of 2021 and our students returned to in-person learning after a year of learning from behind a computer screen. While the shift back to in-person learning was pretty seamless in terms of schedule, routine, and overall pedagogy, it also became clear that many of our students were now distracted by their personal devices more than they had been pre-pandemic. This wasn’t necessarily surprising considering many students were likely multitasking with their phones during remote learning. We were now faced with the challenge of a new learned behavior, and we continue to see this spill over into our classrooms up to the present day. 

Digital Citizenship

One of the guiding principles that served as the underpinning for our digital citizenship work back in 2013 is now resurfacing with greater urgency ten years later. Specifically, we are faced with the question of how to instruct students on the proper use of personal devices, and more specifically how to manage the distraction that they can provide when a person is required to be engaged and attentive with an in-person experience. While this can include personal interactions, the greater issue that we now face is inside of the classroom. As a school, our job is to prepare students for college and/or the workforce. Both of these areas are what is coming next once our students move on, and both would be far less forgiving than we might be within the walls of DFHS. 

Next Steps

Our Digital Citizenship Committee has been meeting since October and it is composed of teachers who are exploring strategies to teach appropriate etiquette inside of the classroom. The committee is still meeting and is always interested in obtaining more strategies that might be working across the building. Please feel free to share any good ideas! For now, we are exploring the following:

• Classroom Cell Phone Holders: Some of our teachers have been incorporating these and have had excellent results. We are going to place a larger order for any teachers who are interested. 

• Chromebook/Chargers: We are also exploring the possibility of adding some spare devices in classrooms for students who assert that they need to use their phone because a Chromebook isn’t charged.

• Digital Citizenship Curriculum/Lessons: Several years ago we did a schoolwide read of the book, How to Break Up With Your Phone. Some of our teachers have continued to implement these principles into the classroom while we discuss bringing this text back once again as a future schoolwide reading book. 

• Class Expectations: Perhaps the greatest impact that improper cell phone use can result in for a student would be on how it impacts the overall grade. Some of our teachers have been successfully using the “phone tracker” that is included in our MTSS Tier 1 intervention bank. This is an excellent tool for helping to keep students accountable and can directly connect to a student’s overall course grade.  Please be certain that our administration will always support teachers who hold students accountable in this way.

• Code of Conduct: As an extension to the point above, our Code of Conduct is very clear as it relates to insubordination. Specifically, all teachers have the professional discretion to create class rules and policies given the desired outcomes of a respective course. If students continue to disobey rules, and once all Tier 1 interventions are explored including parental contact, teachers can absolutely escalate the matter to administration for insubordination. The expectation is always that cellphones are put away if that is what is being asked by a teacher. Again, our administration will always support teachers in this way.

• “Tech Down Day”: Our Digital Citizenship Committee is going to explore a “Tech Down Day” in March that will emphasize the importance of healthy habits with technology. Sarah will send more on this in the coming weeks. Our Digital Citizenship Committee is also surveying students today in our English classes on this topic and their in-class habits. The early data is already suggesting that this work will be well supported. 

• Communication: Our plan is to communicate with parents and students about this topic and the importance of promoting digital citizenship. We will send this out once the committee has worked out the details for our “Tech Down Day.” Again, please feel free to share any and all strategies if you feel that they would be helpful.

While it’s important to recognize that we are really still learning as we go given the rapid advancement of technology in our culture over the past ten years, we also recognize that schools play a pivotal role in preparing students to properly balance its use. By no means is our intention to reduce or eliminate the use of technology. That’s neither realistic nor genuine in terms of day-to-day life in 2023. Instead, our hope is to pause, adjust, and to implement approaches that serve to guide and support students as we work to properly manage this potential distraction while continuing to harness the power that personal devices provide.

IB DP or AP? The debate is a longstanding one as schools continue to grapple with how to best meet the academic and social/emotional needs of all students. The pandemic has only intensified this discussion. This was certainly a topic for us here in Dobbs Ferry when I started in 2011, and it is one that still surfaces from time to time with community members who are unfamiliar with the program and are naturally curious. As life-long learners who practice the very qualities outlined in the IB Learner Profile, including the need to be “reflective” and “inquirers,” it is important that we continue to assess our program, how it aligns to our strategic goals, and how we communicate this information to our school community. These discussions are ongoing for us at DFHS, and the “Why IB?” question is one that I’ve written about many times over the past ten years on this site. Here’s the latest version…

DFHS continues to be one of the few public schools in our region that is truly “IB for All,” and our instructional program includes both the IB MYP for students in grades 9-10 and the IB DP for students in grades 11-12. Our reputation as a successful IB public school, coupled with the fact that we were the first IB DP school in our county to be authorized all the way back in 1998, has allowed us to share our “story” with school leaders from across the nation. We are often the district for other schools to come visit when they want to learn more about the program, and we present annually at the IB Global Conference to share how a diverse public high school can allow for increased student access (and success) to both the MYP and DP.  

A typical question (and concern) that many school leaders pose during these discussions is how to fully balance two large competing programs such as IB and AP within one school building. For many, the idea of bringing on a new program such as the IB DP is an easy “sell,” but the challenge of phasing out a pre-existing program that many feel strongly about is a bit more complicated. The question, then, is do we need to have one or the other? The short answer that I always give to this question is “yes,” a school should go “all-in” with one particularly for students in the upper grades. Although having both might make some sense for schools that are phasing one program in and another out, a long-term plan that includes both a full IB DP offering and a full AP offering only serves to muddy the vision for the faculty and students, the professional development plan for the school, and the overall direction of the organization. The end result is likely a high school program that lacks direction and cohesion due to the differing philosophies that respectively guide each program. Instead, my recommendation is always to choose one and to do that one to its fullest potential. The direction will be clearer, the work will be more purposeful, and the overall results in terms of student access and overall performance will always be better.

Having worked closely with both programs as a teacher, an assistant principal, and for the past twelve years as a principal, I’ve been able to see and experience some of the differences between IB and AP first hand. While both have plenty of selling points, and the AP program when implemented well has its merits, my list of reasons that follow the question of “Why IB?” continues to grow. I actually started this list all the way back in 2013 when I started this blog, and while the list is pretty long, here are a few of the main ones that keep resonating for us here at DFHS: 

IB Philosophy: Regardless of the grade level or course, the IB philosophy and approach should be evident in any class in an IB World School. For example, an English 9 class that is taught in an IB School should look very different from the same course that is being taught up the road at a non-IB school. At DFHS, for example, all units of study and daily lessons are rooted in essential questions, Approaches to Learning (ATLs), Related and Guiding Concepts, a Global Context, and international mindedness. An added focus on the IB Learner Profile is embedded into all aspects of our school and serves as the underpinning for our academic and social/emotional programming. This philosophical approach helps to blend the IB MYP with the IB DP, and our teachers embed these “big ideas” and concepts into their daily lessons to ensure that students can make connections across the disciplines. At DFHS, our program is designed to ensure that all students are IB students who will ultimately choose to access the Diploma Program at varying degrees starting in grade eleven. This will range from students who enroll in a minimum of two IB DP courses (English and Math) to those who choose to pursue the full IB Diploma. With AP, there isn’t necessarily an “AP for all” philosophy in that way, and the program is more often better suited for a tracked population of students who will ultimately enroll in AP courses.

Access: To expand on the point above, the IB makes it much easier for all students to access DP courses in grades 11-12. They do this by offering both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) course options that are, in most cases, spread out over two years to allow for greater inquiry and exploration. In addition, all students at our middle and high school (grades 6-10) have been full IB students since our MYP authorization in 2016, and all students complete an IB Community Project in grade eight and an IB Personal Project in sophomore year. This alignment between the two programs has significantly increased the number of students who continue to successfully access the IB DP in grade 11. Furthermore, the IB requires that all schools have a clear special needs policy to ensure greater access for all students, and at DFHS all of our teachers receive IB training. In addition, many of our IB DP courses are co-taught with a special education teacher to ensure that our students are fully supported. While the AP program certainly accommodates the needs of all students, the greatest difference is with the difficult entry point and seemingly high level of exclusivity that exists for students who choose to enroll in AP courses. Simply stated, far more students will access IB courses in a full IB World School as opposed to the number that will access AP courses in a more traditional situation.  

“The Test”: When I attended AP training years ago, I was told flat out by the instructor that “the test” drives the course and that students who enroll should do so with the expectation that they will score at least a 3 if not a 4 or 5. Assessments, assignments, and other tasks must be “AP-based” and inquiry, analysis, and creativity should be limited to what is necessary for success on the AP exam. Conversely, IB DP courses are driven less by the pressure of one test and instead contain a blend of internal and external assessments over the course of two years. These types of evidence-based performance tasks are also embedded into all aspects of our curriculum in grades 9-12. This not only provides a more well-rounded picture of what students know and are able to do, but also allows for a deep understanding of the subject since more time is provided for inquiry-based authentic tasks. The benefit of this approach was on full display during the pandemic. As many tests were either canceled or, in the case of AP, administered remotely since the test determined the entire student outcome, the IB was able to easily pivot and provide a “non-examination” pathway that allowed students to receive a grade using the assessment measures that were used over the two years of the course. 

Community and Support: The IB community allows teachers to stay connected and to come together locally, nationally, and internationally. At DFHS, our teachers receive formal IB training before teaching an IB course, all teachers meet with colleagues from their respective regions via “roundtables,” and we connect annually with teachers nationally and internationally when we present at the IB Global Conference. In addition, our teachers share and acquire resources via the MY IB resource center, they receive ongoing formal training (online or in-person) along with informal school-based professional development, and of course they are re-trained when changes are made to the IB subject guides every seven years. All of this helps to ensure that IB teachers remain current, connected, and on the cutting edge. Similar opportunities exist for students, including IB World Student Conferences in locations around the world.

College Recognition: The mission of the IB is to promote the development of an international education while providing an opportunity for students to earn a diploma that is recognized around the world. Though the IB recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, it is not until the past ten years that the IB has become commonly recognized by United States universities as a benchmark for academic excellence. Universities are also awarding credit for IB HL courses that are on par with AP courses, and several are now awarding a full year of credit to full IB Diploma students. From an IB perspective, and for us at DFHS, the focus has never been on helping students to earn college credits in high school although that is a wonderful perk. Instead, our focus is always to provide students with a robust and versatile academic experience that the IB Program provides so that they are best prepared for college, the workforce, and beyond.

One final thought…

While both the IB MYP and DP are the right choice for us at DFHS, an important point that we always consider is what additional programs and/or courses are out there which might enhance our work as an IB School while maximizing the time spent with our students each day. This ongoing reflection has led us in the direction of adding courses and smaller programs that further support our established goals, including a three-year science research program that directly supports and enhances our IB DP science program, a course such as AP World History for students in grade ten that directly prepares students for IB DP History in grade 11, and our AP Computer Science elective that serves as an added option given the interests and academic needs of our students. In the end, the key for any school is to always understand its respective context, the resources associated with that context, and to choose and design a program that best supports its students respectively.