5 Questions: Q&A with Superintendent Nan Murphy About the Educational Model

5 Questions About the Educational Model 

Q&A with Dedham Public Schools Superintendent Nan Murphy.   

What is an Educational Model and How is it Different from the District’s Strategic Plan?

An Educational Model describes how we organize the work of teaching and learning so that our students can achieve the outcomes we want for them.

Our ONE DEDHAM Strategic Plan for the District, which we introduced in 2025, establishes the direction and priorities for Dedham Public Schools. It tells us what we are working toward and identifies key goals over the next five years within four areas of focus: Teaching & Learning; Safe & Supportive Schools; Family & Community Engagement; and Budget & Capital Improvements. 

The Educational Model asks a different question: Given the vision and goals of the district for the future, what should Dedham Public Schools actually look like and how should it operate in order to achieve them?  It asks fundamental questions about the experience we want students to have: How should students learn? How should they be grouped? What should teaching and support look like? What structures, staffing, schedules, programs, and physical environments are needed to support that learning? The Educational Model is therefore much more specific about the design and structure of the school system than our Strategic Plan, though I think it is important for our community to understand that this Educational Model work is not simply a facilities study.

I see the relationship this way: the Strategic Plan is our destination; the Educational Model helps define the educational system needed to get there. It does not replace the vision and strategy, it helps us operationalize it.

What Will the Full New Educational Model Do for Dedham Public Schools?

The full Educational Model will give Dedham Public Schools a long-term educational framework for making decisions about teaching and learning, staffing, student groupings, programs, and facilities.   Instead of making decisions about each of these important areas of education individually as they arise, we can now map decisions back to a bigger, comprehensive approach.

The Educational Model allows us to step back and ask: What systems do we need to create so that every Dedham student has access to a high-quality educational experience, both today and in the future?

The Rennie Center's work has given us a much stronger evidence base for answering that question. Their team generated more than 250 graphs of enrollment, demographic, staffing, and student performance data; examined 13 peer districts; visited all seven Dedham schools; observed learning in more than 30 classrooms; interviewed district and school leaders; and conducted 17 focus groups with students, families, and staff.

That work is helping us look at the system as a whole rather than solving one building or one program challenge at a time. The goal is not to change for the sake of change. In fact, one of the most important outcomes of this work has been identifying the things Dedham is doing well and highlighting ways to build on that success. 

The Educational Model outlines ways in which students can be grouped and the size and mix of facilities that are “recommended” -  Is this deciding how Dedham will build out or fix our schools?

No. The Educational Model is not a capital plan, and it does not decide where Dedham will build, renovate, replace, or close a school.  This distinction is extremely important.

The Educational Model helps us determine what educational environments and configurations best support our students and our vision for teaching and learning. The Rennie Center's first report therefore examined different grade configurations and school facility scenarios to be considered within the context of the entire model.

The report presents 10 possible scenarios, each evaluated based on educational and operational factors, including academic impact, social-emotional and equity considerations, cost, and time to implement, which Dedham can consider as viable options to meet the identified educational environment needs for the district.  Rennie ultimately recommended three scenarios from the 10 presented that they believe warrant further consideration. But a recommendation is not a decision.  The School Committee still has to consider the research, listen to the community, and determine which options should move forward. 

The current process calls for three options to be advanced to the Town's Facilities Master Plan process. That process—not the Educational Model—will determine how potential changes could actually be translated into a capital plan, including such questions as where buildings might be located, how construction would be sequenced, what temporary space might be required, and what should happen to existing properties.

The Educational Model also includes teaching and support recommendations - some that look a lot like what we do already - what are we changing?

I actually see this as a positive finding. If the Rennie Center identifies practices that look familiar to us, that does not mean the work has failed. It means we may already have important pieces of the model in place.

We should not throw away effective work simply because we are developing a new Educational Model. Instead, the question should be: What is working, what needs to become more consistent, and what do we need to strengthen or do differently?

The Educational Model is not intended to create an entirely new educational philosophy for Dedham. It is intended to help us examine the alignment of the system.

For example, Dedham has already invested in practices such as MTSS, collaborative planning, data-informed instruction, the Portrait of a Learner, professional learning, and stronger systems of student support. The Educational Model gives us an opportunity to examine how those practices fit together and whether they are consistently implemented across all seven schools.

The Rennie Center's broader research reinforces this idea. Its work on rethinking education focuses on three interconnected elements—people, place, and time—including educator roles, staffing models, student groupings, learning environments, schedules, and how learning time is structured.

So I do not expect the final Educational Model to say, "Everything Dedham is doing today needs to change."   Instead, I expect it to help us identify three categories:

Keep: Practices that are working and reflect who we want to be as a district.

Strengthen: Practices that are promising but need greater consistency, capacity, or resources.

Change: Structures or practices that are no longer serving students as well as they could and need to be redesigned.

That is ultimately what makes this work valuable. We are not starting from scratch. We are building on the strengths of Dedham while being honest about where we have opportunities to improve.

The Educational Model report document includes lots of data, comparables and recommendations from Rennie, including best practices from neighboring schools and schools nationwide,  but how does it reflect what the Dedham community wants?

When we talk about Community voice, it has to be more than an opportunity for people to react to a finished plan, it needs to help shape the plan itself.  This is why the Rennie Center's process included community engagement as a formal phase of the work. 

The process included five full-community listening sessions, a community survey that generated more than 760 responses, a community visioning event which generated approximately 100 reactions collected per station, 80 open-ended responses noted, and additional conversations with community organizations. Rennie also conducted 17 focus groups with students, staff, families and community groups.

Those conversations were not simply about asking residents which building option they preferred. Community members were asked what is working well in Dedham today, where they see gaps, and what changes could better serve our students. That distinction matters.

For example, one of the clearest themes emerging from the research and community input was the importance of ensuring that elementary students have access to higher-quality learning environments. All three of Rennie's recommended scenarios address that priority, while also falling in the middle tier for cost and no higher than the middle tier for implementation time.

But community voice and opportunities for input do not end with the Rennie report.

In fact, I believe the most important community conversation is still ahead of us. The School Committee will now need to take the information Rennie has provided—the data, research, comparisons, options, benefits, and tradeoffs—and put it in front of the community in a way that allows people to understand it and respond thoughtfully.

There will not be one option that everyone prefers. Every scenario has advantages and disadvantages. The responsibility of the School Committee is to weigh those tradeoffs carefully, listen to the community, and ultimately make a decision that puts the long-term interests of Dedham students at the center.

To learn more about the Educational Model Redevelopment process and review the first of two reports published by the Rennie Center from their work,  visit:  https://beheard.dedhamma.gov/educational-model

The Rennie Center will be presenting the second of their two reports - focused on Teaching & Learning - at the September 15, 2026 School Committee meeting. 

The Dedham School Committee will be at the DPS District Curriculum Night on September 10th held at Dedham Middle School starting at 6:00pm to share information, connect with community members and Dedham families on their reaction to the findings and answer questions.