Dickinson High School is a public high school located in Dickinson, North Dakota. It currently serves about 752 students and is a part of the Dickinson Public Schools system. The official school colors are orange and black and the athletic teams are known as the Midgets.In 1994, Dickinson adopted the block scheduling system, in which students attend only 4 courses a day, each 1.5 hours long, enabling them to earn more class credits than in other schools (which mandate 7 courses per day). They have recently added the "opportunity period," which allows a 30-minute period for lunch. In this time the students can work on homework, tests, or whatever the teacher assigns. This takes place three days a week and freshmen are required to attend. If the other classes do not need the extra help, they get an extended lunch.There has been controversy surrounding Dickinson's mascot, the Midget. In the mid-1990s the school became concerned that their 80-year-old mascot was not very politically correct, and communicated that they were considering a change. NBC's The Today Show even featured a piece on the Little People of America in which the organization stated that they were not offended by the name, influencing the school to keep its traditional mascot.DHS educates an average of 890 students in grades nine through twelve each year, and employs 60 certified teachers and 35 classified staff members. DHS offers 328 different courses in a variety of subjects, as well as Advanced Placement courses and college dual-credit courses.
