At the beginning of the month, our school’s social studies department received a statewide recognition by the Massachusetts Council for Social Studies (MCSS), and was awarded the 2026-2027 Department Excellence in Teaching Social Studies Award. This award highlights how greatly our department’s dedication is to student excellence, recognizing DHS as one of the top programs in MA.
According to a letter from the MCSS sent out, our school’s social studies department stood out among a highly competitive group of candidates, due to our talents and contributions.
“This prestigious recognition is well deserved for many reasons,” said DHS Principal Alan Strauss. “The department has not only a deep love of history and the social sciences, combined with profound intellectual curiosity, but also a love of teaching, while having compassion for all students.”
To receive the state award as the Department of the Year is simply outstanding.This is not only great for the individual teachers, but collectively, it’s an impressive achievement for Danvers High School as it highlights once again the great things that are happening here.
History and psychology teacher Mr. Chris Hopkins spoke about the achievement.
“It is nice to have this award and be recognized for our department’s efforts in education,” Mr. Hopkins said. “This award is a product of all of us working together to make our subjects both interesting and challenging. I have been here for over twenty years and it is a pleasure to work with these colleagues, who are also my friends.”
As our school continues to grow academically, the Social Studies Department’s statewide recognition highlights the impact our teachers have in shaping and engaging us as students.
The department will be officially recognized at the MCSS State conference on March 13th in Sturbridge, and although it is far, we hope some of our faculty can show up and support. Congratulations to our history teachers!
