Welcome to Dent-Phelps R-III
Home of the Bobcats

We are an Accelerated School

An Accelerated School is a school that commits itself to a philosophy and a process to improved student achievement and increase parent and community involvement.  In carrying out the philosophy and process, members of the Accelerated Schools community - the principal, teachers, staff members, parents, students, district office personnel, and local community members - work together to make the school the best it can be so that all children will have the opportunity to be successful, productive members of society.  By making changes in curriculum, instruction, and school organization, the Accelerated Schools community transforms the school in to a place where all students, especially those at risk of failing in the current system, excel at high levels regardless of their background.

Principles of Accelerated Schools:

Unity of Purpose... 

The first principle refers to striving among parents, teachers, support staff, students, administration, and the local community toward a common set of goals for the school that becomes the focal point of everyone's efforts.  Clearly, a central element of that unity of purpose must be the desire to transform the school in to an accelerated one that will make children academically able as soon as possible so that they can fully benefit from their further schooling experiences and adult opportunities.

Empowerment Coupled with Responsibility... 

The second principle refers to the ability of all participants in a school community to (1) make important educational decisions, (2) share responsibility for implementing those decisions, and (3) share the responsibility for the outcome of those decisions.  The purpose is to break the present statement among administrators, teachers, support staff, parents, students, the district office, and the community, in which participants tend to blame each other, as well as other factors "beyond their control" for the poor educational outcome of their students.

Building on Strengths...  

The third principle refers to sharing and utilizing all of the human resources that students, parents, school staff, and local communities bring to the educational endeavor.  In the quest to place blame for the lack of efficiency of schools in improving the education of students in at-risk situations, it is easy to exaggerate the weakness of the various participants and ignore their strengths.