Welcome Back

Dear GDRHS Parents and Guardians:

It is with great anticipation and optimism that we open our doors for the 2015-2016 school year.  In less than a week we will greet our incoming freshmen, welcome our returning sophomore and junior classes, and look to our Class of 2016 to provide the leadership necessary to make every student’s high school experience positive and memorable. We begin this school year with a dedicated learning community in place, all working towards the common goal of keeping Groton-Dunstable High School among the top performing in Massachusetts and the country.

Our objective is to prepare students for the competitive 21^st Century global environment, and we aim to assist them in developing into productive, prosperous global citizens.  As a team and also as individuals, we will continue to work hard to meet the mission of the school: 

We foster academic and personal excellence in cooperation with the community. Through an evolving curriculum, we cultivate skills and attitudes that encourage students to develop a spirit of inquiry, the disposition to adapt to changing environments, and the intrinsic motivation to become responsible, contributing citizens.

The Global Scholars Program was developed to help marshal us towards this honorable mission, and one primary component of the program is the growing international student program, now in its fourth year at GD.  Over the past three years we have hosted more than fifty international students, and each student has added diversity to our hallways, enhanced our classroom discussions, and enriched our community.  This fall we welcome sixteen more students from Asia, Europe and South America.  In addition, more than one hundred Groton-Dunstable Regional High School students will traverse the globe during the course of the coming school year.  Students will take part in a language immersion trip in France, a cultural immersion trip to Greece, a science expedition to the Amazon, a leadership summit in The Hague, and service learning trips to both the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.  Lastly, as part of the Teachers of Critical Languages program through the United States Department of State, we welcome a teacher from China who will teach courses in Mandarin. 

All of our goals support the overarching objective of preparing Groton-Dunstable Regional High School students for their future. Preparing our students to compete in the 21st Century is a monumental task that requires a hardworking, dedicated staff committed to student achievement. That challenge begins soon, and I am confident we are worthy of the challenge. Continuing the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, continuing our work on the Global Scholars initiative, expanding and strengthening our AP program, providing our talented staff with ongoing professional development, increasing student exposure to computer science, coding, and robotics are but a few of the initiatives targeting our goals.

Three necessary components of any successful school systems are safety, organization, and high expectations for learning. I assure you that these three factors will guide our daily decision-making in the months and years ahead. I look forward to your input, participation, and support as we work together to achieve our goals. In an effort to enhance our academic, athletic, and extracurricular programs, parent and community involvement are both welcome and needed. I look forward to meeting and working with each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Michael Mastrullo