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About
Design and Visual Communications (DVC) is an exciting, fast paced, creative, and ever evolving program. Curriculum is designed to expose students to vast career opportunities that exist in the creative, multi-media, and communications industry.
Students receive training across various media, including print, video, web/interactive, and photography. Students learn how to problem solve, experiment, and explore to create visual solutions using the Adobe® Creative Cloud collection of applications. Students also practice valuable employment skills, create resumes, interact with clients, and complete real-world projects for businesses and organizations in the Assabet Valley RTHS school district.
Students graduating from the DVC program will leave with a professional portfolio, demo reel, Adobe® Certification, and OSHA 10-hour safety certification. DVC graduates will be ready to enter a 2 or 4-year college program or pursue entry-level employment in the communications industry.
Curriculum
Our curriculum is based on state frameworks provided by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In addition to the Design & Visual Communications frameworks, we also cover strands from Radio & Television Broadcasting and Graphic Communications.
Topics Include:
- Workplace Safety
- Graphic Design
- Print Production
- Design Theory/Process
- Color Theory
- 4K Camera Operation
- Video Editing
- Audio Editing
- Studio Production
- Location Production
- Studio Photography
- Portaiture
- Product Photography
- Color Correction
- Retouching
- Fron-end Web Design
- Web Animation
- Motion Graphics
- Cloud Work Flow
- Employment Skills
Certification
To complete the DVC program, each student is required to take the Adobe Certified Associate exam*. The ACA certification is nationally recognized and offers many advantages to students, such as:
Validation of your Adobe skills
Demonstrate proficiency in Adobe digital communications tools
Opens doors to exciting careers
Expands career opportunities with industry-recognized certification
Differentiates students
Students stand apart from their peers in a competitive job market
Boosts confidence
Certifies digital media skills are up to date
Available Certifications
Students can choose to be certified in one or all of the following programs:
Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, Premier, Illustrator, or InDesign
Students also receive OSHA-10 workplace safety certification during their sophomore year.
*Students are responsible for the testing fee for Adobe Certification.
Faculty
Combined, our teaching staff has over 40 years of industry experience and still work professionally on a freelance basis on branding, print collateral, video production and related projects.
Mr. Whitney
Mr. Whitney started his communications career in Worcester, MA working for a prepress service bureau called Comp Digital Imaging. There he learned the art of electronic photo retouching, page layout, and print production. These skills gave Mr. Whitney the opportunity to move on to work in the advertising industry where he did work for clients such as, W.B. Mason, Dare Foods, Foxwoods Resort & Casino, UMass Medical School and many others.
Mr. Whitney holds a M.Ed. in Occupational Education from Fitchburg State University and a B.A. in Art & Business from Anna Maria College.
Mr. May
Massachusetts Ch. 74 Educator’s License for Radio/Television Broadcasting.
BA in Communications, Worcester State College 1989
Master’s in Occupational Education, Fitchburg State College 2009
15 years of industry work experience and 11 years of teaching experience.
Associated Press “Best High School News in State” for MA & RI Region 2007
Associated Press “Best High School News in State” for MA & RI Region 2008
National Academy Arts & Sciences Emmy “Craft Achievement” 2008
Ms. Harper
Deborah Harper is a professional educator and experienced visual designer. Her diverse capabilities include traditional print graphic design, photography, animation, video editing and web design. Her recreational artistry involves collage with textiles and found objects and greeting card design. She has been activating the love of learning and design collaboration in young adults for 22 years. Prior to becoming a teacher, Deborah was the CEO of a 1.4 million dollar, award-winning advertising agency for 10 years. Through her hands-on learning approach and integration of entrepreneurship into the classrooms, she has helped her students to develop impressive resumes and portfolios which include clients such as New Balance, Middlesex Savings Bank, Hilton Hotels and Clinton Savings Bank.
