School in Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States
Duxbury High School is a public high school located in the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, United States, and operating in the Duxbury Public School District. The superintendent of the Duxbury Public School District is Danielle Klingaman, the assistant superintendent is Beth Wilcox and the principal of Duxbury High School is Todd Warmington.[3][4] The building that houses the Duxbury Middle and High School is located at 71 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA and was newly constructed in 2014. The Duxbury High School mascot is the Dragons and its school colors are green, white, and silver.
Demographics
The 2023 total school population was 888 students, a figure 4% less than enrollment in 2019 and 8% less than enrollment in 2018.[5]
Of the total number of students enrolled in Duxbury High School in 2023, 18.1% are High Need Students, 6.8% are Economically Disadvantaged, 0.3% are English Language Learners, 12.8% are Disabled, 0.3% are African-American, 1.6% are Asian-American, 2.8% are Hispanic, 3.2% are Multiracial, and 91.8% are White.[5]
Of the 78 full-time teaching staff, 99.2% are licensed teachers and 89.2% are licensed teachers in the subject they teach.[5]
Academics
Ratings
In 2011, Duxbury High School was ranked #13 of all public Massachusetts high schools and #272 of national public high schools by U.S. News & World Report, while Boston Magazine ranked Duxbury High School #27 among 150 greater-Boston public high schools in the same year.[6]
In 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school #17 in Massachusetts and #271 nationally, while Boston Magazine ranked it #47 among greater-Boston area public high schools.[6] The Massachusetts Department of Education placed Duxbury High School in the 92nd percentile of Massachusetts public high schools in 2017.[7]
In 2020, the Massachusetts DoE classified Duxbury High School as a "School of Recognition" overall, placing it in the 99th percentile of public high schools in Massachusetts.[5]
Opportunities
71.8% of students have access to participate in an arts course. 83.1% of 11th and 12th grade students have completed at least one advanced course, including Advanced Placement. 95.9% of 9th grade students pass all of their courses. 100% of students complete the MassCore program of studies.[5]
Standardized test performance
Students who take the SAT averaged a score of 590 in Reading and 591 in Math in 2017.[8] Students who scored a passing grade of 3 or higher on Advanced Placement examinations accounted for 73% in 2017.[8] Students in the 10th grade who met or exceeded expectations on the MCAS ELA, Math, and Science portions numbered 89%, 86%, and 97%, respectively.[5]
Funding
The total dollars spent per student amounted to $16,037 in 2020, $15,960 of which (all except $77) came from local and state funds.[5]
Post-secondary preparedness
The four-year graduation rate is 98.8%, with 86.1% matriculating to a 4-year university and 2% matriculating to a 2-year university.[5]
Athletics
The Duxbury Dragons have won the following state championships.[9][better source needed]
Fall
- Football: 2005(2A), 2008(2A), 2010(2A), 2011(2), 2016(2), 2022(4) & 2023(4) (Division in Parentheses)
- Boys’ Golf: 1988, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2007, 2010, and 2011
- Boys’ Soccer: 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1995, 2000, and 2001
- Girls’ Soccer: 1984, 1995, and 2009
Winter
- Boys’ Basketball: 1989, 1994, and 2006
- Girls’ Basketball: 1998 and 2015
- Boys Hockey: 2000, 2005, 2007 and 2019
- Girls Hockey: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2023
- Girls' Swimming: 2017, 2018 and 2020
Spring
- Boys’ Lacrosse: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012
- Girls’ Lacrosse: 2007
- Girls’ Golf: 2001
- Sailing: New England Team Racing Champions 2009, Herreshoff Trophy (Women's New England Fleet Racing Championship) 2013[citation needed]
- Boys' Crew::2018
- Girls' Crew: 2018
- Girls’ Track: 1986
- Boys’ Tennis: 1981, 1984, 1990, 1994, 2013 and 2023
History
The first high school in Duxbury was established as a private secondary school on Tremont and Depot Streets at the behest of U.S. Congressman George Partridge in 1844.[10] A public high school in the town of Duxbury was first proposed in 1866.[11] Public secondary education in Duxbury was originally conducted in privately-owned buildings throughout the town. The town was unable to afford teachers' salaries from the outset. In 1868, an agreement between the Partridge Academy Trustees and the Town of Duxbury was reached, which allowed Duxbury's high school-age residents to attend the Partridge Academy. The Duxbury High School football team was established in the 1925-1926 school year, while schooling continued at Partridge Academy.[11]
In 1927, a new high school building was constructed at 77 Alden Street for $85,000.[10] The building served as the location of the Duxbury Ellison High School until 1997, when the Duxbury Free Library moved from the Wright Building to occupy 77 Alden Street.[10] The Duxbury High School moved in 1997 to Saint George Street, where it remained until 2013, when the building was razed and replaced with playing fields. The present building housing the high school is located at 71 Alden Street.
Controversy
During a March 12, 2021 game against rival Plymouth North High School, Duxbury High School football players were heard using anti-Semitic words and potentially other derogatory language as part of their play-calling system.[20] The incident sparked international[21] and national attention in the weeks following its discovery and elicited public statements from virtually every party to the incident, including the Anti-Defamation League.[22] By March 24, 2021, Head Coach Dave Maimaron had been terminated in his position at the Duxbury High School football program and placed on paid administrative leave in his position as a special education instructor at the Duxbury High School.[23] Duxbury Public Schools Superintendent John Antonucci announced that an investigation into the etiology and pervasiveness of anti-Semitic or otherwise offensive language was underway and contracted to Just Training Solutions, LLC by March 24.[20]
On June 7, 2021, the results of the investigation conducted by Just Training Solutions, LLC were submitted in a 56-page document to Superintendent John Antonucci, who summarized the report in a document made publicly available on June 10, 2021.[24][25] The investigation concluded that anti-Semitic language and references to the Holocaust by members of the Duxbury High School football program were in violation of the School District’s Vision-Values-Mission-Goals Policy, its Harassment Policy, and its Staff Conduct Policy. These violations took the form of using the words "Auschwitz," "Rabbi," and "Dreidel" to call plays at the line-of-scrimmage since 2010-2012.[24] Additionally, the report concluded, "Coaching staff engaged in profane and vulgar language and condoned the use of profane and vulgar language by students."[24] Finally, the report concluded that the football program violated the aforementioned School District policies in addition to the School Ceremonies and Observance Policy inasmuch as Catholic worship and prayer was integrated into the football program's preparation for competitions.
Mr. Maimaron submitted his resignation from his teaching position at Duxbury Public Schools to Superintendent Antonucci on June 7, 2021.[24][26]
Administrative Aftermath
In June 2021, Duxbury High School Principal Jim Donovan announced that the contract of Thom Holdgate, who has been the school's Director of Athletics and Wellness for 19 years, would not be continued into the 2021-2022 school year.[27]
Joseph Foley, et al. vs. Duxbury Public Schools, et al.
Joseph Parker Foley was a graduate of the Duxbury Public Schools who died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 27 years old in October 2020. As a sixth-grade student of Duxbury Middle School in 2006, Mr. Foley's gym teacher was John Blake, a middle school physical education instruction and long-time varsity men's hockey coach.
On March 31, 2021, the Estate of Mr. Foley filed a civil lawsuit in Plymouth Superior Court against the Duxbury Public Schools and John Blake, seeking $1MM in damages.[28] In the suit, the estate of Mr. Foley alleged that Mr. Blake repeatedly sexually abused the sixth-grader, Mr. Foley, beginning in 2006 during gym class, while it named the Duxbury Public Schools as grossly negligent, reckless, and/or callously indifferent about their student, Mr. Foley's, health, welfare, and safety.[29] Mr. Foley's subsequent drug use and accidentally lethal overdose was noted as a result of the sexual abuse he suffered as a Duxbury Middle School student at the hands of his teacher.[30]
By April 2021, the Duxbury Public Schools terminated Mr. Blake's more-than two-decade career as an educator and coach.[31] An independent investigation commissioned by the Duxbury School Department found that the allegations against Mr. Blake, including his sexual abuse of Mr. Foley and his sexual relationship with a colleague, were credible and in violation of the staff code of conduct.[32]
The suit was removed to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts that same month, upon the petition of the school district's attorneys, Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP.[28]
As of December 2022, Joseph Morgan, attorney for the estate of Mr. Foley, announced that plaintiffs reached a monetary settlement with the Duxbury Public Schools.[33]
