Huntley Hills Elementary School Fall Festival - Saturday October 26th

DeKalb County Schools SAT Scores - Class of 2019

The Georgia Department of Education has released the district and school level SAT scores.  Those scores can be access via the following link:  https://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/communications/Pages/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?PressView=default&pid=711

Below are the SAT Scores for DeKalb County high schools for the Class of 2019:

High Schools Scoring Above National Average:

Chamblee Charter HS

DeKalb Early College Academy

Lakeside High School

Dunwoody High School

DeKalb School of the Arts

Druid Hills High School

High Schools Scoring Above State Average:

Chamblee Charter HS

DeKalb Early College Academy

Lakeside High School

Dunwoody High School

DeKalb School of the Arts

Druid Hills High School

High Schools Scoring Above DCSD Average:

Chamblee Charter HS

DeKalb Early College Academy

Lakeside High School

Dunwoody High School

DeKalb School of the Arts

Druid Hills High School

Tucker High School

High Schools with score Increase of 2019 over 2018

Chamblee Charter HS

DeKalb Early College Academy

Druid Hills High School

Dunwoody High School

Lakeside High School

Southwest DeKalb High School

CBS-46: Peachtree Charter Middle School In Crisis?

Yes, so says a "whistleblower" and "whispers" I have heard around the community.

Among other items, according to PCMS Governance Board Meeting Minutes, changes to the High Achievers program were made without notice or notification to the Governing Board.  You can read the entire Meeting Minutes at this link:  https://pcms.membershiptoolkit.com/assets/00599/Documents/2019-2020/PCMS_called_meeting_minutes--9-19.pdf

If this sounds familiar to some, (me) it appears to be similiar to what was going on at Chamblee Charter HS during the Rebecca Braaten tenure.

At the end of the CBS-46 report, DCSD responds with their usual nonsense.

You can read the entire article at the following link:  https://www.cbs46.com/news/prominent-stem-charter-school-may-be-in-crisis-says-whistleblower/article_4d824b6a-e18f-11e9-a555-b3314e0a3b7a.html

From CBS-46:

“Fifity-one teachers left last year. A lot of those people left because Peachtree ran them out,“ said a whistleblower. CBS46 agreed to hide the identity of this whistleblower who says they could no longer stay silent and watch one of the districts top rated schools and STEM programs go up in flames.

“Two years after the STEM coordinator was removed there is no real STEM there. No longer the High Achiever program going on and they just have the students mixed”, added the whistleblower, who went on to say that means some teachers have classes with students who are at different learning levels. As a result, the teachers struggle to keep everyone on the same page. 

This Week!!! Redistricting Meetings Set for Austin Elementary and New Cross Keys North Elementary School

The DeKalb School District has announced their upcoming meetings scheduled to discuss redistricting plans centered around the opening of the new Austin Elementary School facility and the new Cross Keys North Elementary School. 

It’s interesting to see that the redistricting meetings for the new Cross Keys North Elementary School are taking place at Chamblee Charter High School.  I would have thought these meetings would take place within the community which I would think would be most affected by this, the Cross Keys HS cluster.  I’m assuming this means that there are many changes in store for the Chamblee cluster???  Why no meetings at any of the Cross Keys cluster schools?

I was in the middle of the last redistricting effort in Dunwoody.  This took place during the repurposing of Dunwoody Elementary from a 4/5 Academy to a K-5 facility.  The redistricting decision(s) brought out the worst in our community.  It was friend against friend; neighbor against neighbor. I hope and pray the Dunwoody community avoids that same vitriol with this redistricting process.  I also hope that DCSD will not succumb to parental and Board of Education pressure to save one elementary schools attendance zone while obliterating another elementary schools attendance zone as was done with the last redistricting effort.   

I do encourage all concerned citizens in the Dunwoody, Chamblee and Cross Keys communities to attend these meetings.  I am not sure how much your input will sway the district in their redistricting decisions, but at the minimum you’ll be informed and perhaps some feedback (constructive) will be welcome by the district.   Yeah, I'm still a glass half-full kind of gal.

A Look At DeKalb Schools 2019 Graduation Rate and Chamblee Charter High School and Dunwoody High School Subgroup Graduation Rates

The Georgia Department of Education has released the 4 year Cohort Graduation Rates for the Class of 2019.  The following charts document the Graduation Rates for DeKalb County High Schools as well as the the Subgroup graduation rates for  Chamblee High School and Dunwoody High School.

All 2019 Graduation Rates can be accessed via the following GADOE Press Release:https://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/communications/Pages/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?PressView=default&pid=709

Dunwoody High School Graduation rate rose slightly over 2018, but the Graduation Rate for Chamblee dipped a bit.  The Graduation Rate for ELL students was very low at a rate of 27.5.  I am confident that the new administration at Chamblee, led by Principal Barnes is already addressing what needs to be done to assist the ELL students.

Do You Want to Keep Up With Chamblee Charter High School? The Blue and Gold is your source!!

When I was a student at Chamblee High School, many, many, many years ago, we all looked forward to the weekly publication of The Blue and Gold Newspaper.  There were times the CHS administration was not so thrilled with some of the articles that appeared in the newspaper. Yes, even back in the 70's, the student staff of The Blue and Gold was not shy about delving into controversial topics -  administration miscues, men's hair length, war, smoking in the bathrooms, smoking in the courtyard, streakers and so on and so on.  But, as far as I know,  there was never an attempt to silence the student writers.

Today, The Blue and Gold remains a quality student-run newspaper.  You can access the current issue of The Blue and Gold at the following link:  https://chambleeblueandgold.com/

I especially enjoyed reading about the introduction of the new STAR period.

Welcoming STAR Period to the Chamblee Schedule

Chamblee Charter High School is known for being stressful. Students take hard courses and involve themselves with as many extracurriculars as possible, leaving little time for homework and relaxation. This year, however, Chamblee hopes to alleviate some of the stress by creating STAR period, a 20-minute study hall between third and fourth period.

Georgia DOE - New Rule Proposal - Allow Students to Waive EOC in Lieu of AP and/or IP Tests

At the August 22, 2019 State of Georgia Board of Education Meeting, the State BOE voted to allow the State School Superintendent to initiate a rule change as to amend State Board of Education Rule 160-3-1-.07 Testing Programs - Student Assessment

This policy would allow students who pass an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaurate (IB) course, along with its accompanying test, to be exempt from the EOC Test. 

This new policy does not exempt students from the 9th Grade Literature, Algebra 1, Coordinate Algebra and Biology EOC tests as these are federally mandated tests.

Further information can be found on the agenda item from the meeting.  The Item is B. 14:
https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting.aspx?S=1262&MID=74997

This move follows the news that 21 schools districts around the state of Georgia have been given approval to substitute their own tests for the state standardized tests.  2 local school systems, City of Marietta and Clayton County Schools are part of the Georgia MAP Assessment Partnership. 

Perhaps we're on the way to allowing districts to have more flexibility in the required standardized testing.  One can only hope.