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Courses Offered By Department

Students’ skills, abilities, and achievements vary. To meet the individual needs of a wide range of  students, Dedham High School offers a variety of courses taught at different college preparatory levels.  

General Criteria for Leveling of Courses

Levels differ in coverage and intensity to meet the student's ability, achievement, and needs. Each represents different requirements in a subject area. Although much of the subject matter in different levels are similar, these courses differ in the depth of content and the pace of the presentation. The Advanced Placement and Honors level courses are designed for students who have demonstrated significantly high achievement in previous courses within the same discipline. The objectives of the leveling system are to enable as many students as possible to attain a sense of mastery, maximize success, and minimize failure.

Some students take courses at multiple levels. It is not unusual for a student applying to a four-year  college to have taken a combination of levels. Students are assigned to appropriate levels in each subject  and may move from one level to another when warranted or recommended by their subject teacher. Level  assignments are determined after carefully considering the following factors: the student’s performance to  date, standardized testing results, and the present teacher’s recommendation. Course levels are designed  to maximize each student’s potential by presenting challenging coursework at an appropriate level and  pace. It is expected that each student will acquire knowledge and develop skills in a rigorous setting.  

With few exceptions, students will be assigned to course levels in English, Mathematics, Science, Foreign  Language, and Social Studies based on their previous achievements and recommendations of their  teachers. Students will make these choices in the spring of the previous year. Families and students may  review course requests for the upcoming school year through their student’s PowerSchool account.

A  meeting with the student’s school counselor is always welcomed in reviewing your student’s academic  courses. The level at which a course is offered will affect the decile rank in class achieved by the student,  but not their placement on the Honor Roll. The curriculum for all courses has been aligned with the  Department of Education frameworks as required.
 

Level Overviews

Course Descriptions & Progressions

***  THIS SECTION IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AS WE SHIFT THE 2024 - 2025 COURSE CATALOGUE ONLINE ***

Download the Complete 2024 - 2025 Course Catalogue