Dartmouth Superintendent Bonny Gifford presented her comprehensive entry plan report at Monday night's School committee meeting.

The presentation encompassed the district's strong points as well suggested steps to maintaining strengths and improving weak points. Gifford gathered strengths and concerns from various interviews, group discussions, school events, parent surveys and interactions with high school students and staff.

Gifford's findings showed that school staff was the biggest highlight. Students and alums feel great pride in being from Dartmouth. The school system was widely perceived to be "high achieving" and  many lauded the "whole child approach," which focuses not just on STEM courses and other academics but enrichment programs, athletics, art programs, MCAS and  improvement.

"Really understand that we have to hit it as a whole child approach"

Though social-emotional learning was found to be more than adequate, respondents felt the it could use some improvement. Response to intervention was found to be very strong in early and middle schools but still needs work in the high school.; multi-tiered system of supports.

The district needs to "enrich curriculum in and out of the school day," said Gifford. Providing enrichment for all students should become a priority.

One of the greatest areas of need was deemed to be communication "in all aspects." Communication channels like emails, teacher notifications, student progress, events and activities were all discussed but it was deemed that there were only "pockets" where communication lacked. Gifford put better communication at the forefront of her report's improvement list.

"We're a service institution," she said. "We provide a service to the district."

In the area of teaching and learning, the chief concern is to make "students feel healthy, safe and engaged." Professional development in the district is well funded and state assessment scores have been strong. However, the area of achievement in math has been inconsistent so it's imperative for the district to take action in improving scores. AP participation in the high school is strong.

Though the math curriculum in grades K-12 must be reassessed, the emphasis on literacy has provided positive results. the district has seen huge increases in STEM opportunities including technology, infrastructure programs, and integration. However, special education programming needs more review.

Next steps for improving teaching and learning includes "a review of state assessment data and instructional practices relative to high school math department in efforts to implement an action plan," said Gifford. Additionally, strategies to provide increased academic support for struggling students should be created to cater to students both in and out of the classroom, though Dartmouth boasts two special needs programs that serve students with developmental delays and autism.

Despite Dartmouth's strides, Gifford reported that, according to theMassachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Dartmouth is spending 17 percent below the state average and ranks in bottom 10 percent statewide.

Next steps include developing a plan to phase in additional learning support staff and keep adding more special needs programs to support students in-house.

"Students are at the center of everything we do," Gifford said.

The next School Committee meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 8.