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.

DeKalb Schools - HOPE Eligible Data for 2017-2018 School Year

I am not sure if I posted the HOPE Eligible data for the 2017-2018 school year on my previous blog.  This data is reported by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA), a great resource of data surrounding the public schools in the State of Georgia.  The Downloadable Data can be found at the following link:  https://gosa.georgia.gov/downloadable-data.

The DCSD schools highlighted in yellow had a higher percentage of HOPE eligible students than the State of Georgia percentage of HOPE Eligible students.  Cross Keys High School scored a higher percentage of HOPE Eligible students over DCSD students as a whole. 

As far as % HOPE Eligible, Dunwoody High School came in 34th out of 458 statewide schools listed.  Chamblee Charter High School came in 64th out of 458 statewide schools listed.

The data for the 2018-2019 school year should be available sometime in the December 2019 timeframe.

City of Dunwoody Issues Stop Work Order on Trailers at Dunwoody High School

The City of Dunwoody issued a Stop Work Order over trailers placed on Dunwoody High School property over the July 4th weekend.   The City indicated the trailers were  placed without the proper work permits. 

Per the article in Reporter Newspapers:  "Community Development Director Richard McLeod said the stop-work order was issued Monday morning because the work was done without receiving a land disturbance permit as required by city ordinance and a 2017 memorandum of understanding agreement between the city and the school district."

Not a good look DCSD.

Click on the following link to read the entire article:  https://www.reporternewspapers.net/2019/07/08/dunwoody-stops-construction-of-trailers-at-high-school-says-work-lacked-permit/

More Apartments on the Horizon for Dunwoody School District?

According to this article in the AJC, the former "Friday's Plaza" on Tilly Mill Road could see redevelopment.  The article states that:  "It’s a bleak shopping center just outside the Perimeter in Doraville, but developers are hoping to change that. A large-scale redevelopment could give new life to the property through a mix of retail and more than 300 apartments.

I believe this area is in the Hightower Elementary/Peachtree Charter Middle School/Dunwoody High School attendance zone.  How would this new development affect an already massively overcrowded attendance area?  Would this development "jump start" the conversation within DCSD for a new high school in North DeKalb?

Click on the following link to read the entire article:   https://www.ajc.com/news/local/new-development-this-plaza-could-signal-that-doraville-time/pNHnVYW5QUJd1afb554pdM/

Dunwoody High School Robotics Team Seeking Workshop Space

The Dunwoody High School FIRST® robotics team Wildcat5e is searching for a space to carry out the building, testing, and design of projects in the coming years. The FRC (FIRST® robotics competition) team is in need of a workshop that would give reasonable space to function and is within the Dunwoody (30338) area.

Space required would include electrical access (i.e. available outlets) for the use of power tools and equipment. Additionally, another smaller room secluded from the main mechanical space to be used for computer aided design and the hosting of meetings is necessary.

In order to help, either the provision of a workshop or the opportunity to open partnership with the team through sponsorship or donation would be more than appreciated. For any responses, please contact the team coach, Doug McMahon, through either phone or email, 678-982-9622 / hello@wildcat5e.com. For more information about the team and its mission, visit the Wildcat5e website at www.wildcat5e.com.

My Thoughts: Dunwoody High and Chamblee Charter High Additions

Ok - I'm back on my "rant" on the Dunwoody and Chamblee High additions.  

I admittedly have not kept up with the most recent discussions around the E-SPLOST additions to Chamblee Charter HS and Dunwoody HS, but the forecast data does not seem to support an immediate addition to the current Chamblee HS facility.  Chamblee HS is forecast to be overcapacity by 50 students.  Can the current CCHS facility handle the additional 50 students versus an addition that the current facility cannot handle without significant hardships to the faculty and student body?  

However, it looks like the immediate need is at Dunwoody HS???

The below data reflects the March 2019 FTE reporting period: 

By 2021, Dunwoody HS will be overcapacity by 839 students.  I continue to read and hear that the only solution is to “build a Doraville HS”.  Here’s my comment on that subject:  Even IF a new Doraville HS was built and ONLY non-Dunwoody residents were redistricted (Doraville students from Hightower), Dunwoody HS would still be overcrowded.  See Dunwoody HS attendance map below:

The small area across SR-141 (Peachtree Industrial) is City of Doraville.  The remainder of the Dunwoody HS attendance area is within the Dunwoody city limits.

So, is the argument to redistrict portions of Dunwoody to a new Doraville HS?  Tear apart the Dunwoody community - again?!  What if at some point in the future Dunwoody is allowed to create its own school system.  What are the options at this point?  Overcrowding will still be an issue.  At the rate developers are taking over Dunwoody with storage facilities and gas stations and grocery stores, there will be little land for a new school(s). 

I realize I’m putting forth an idea that may be overwhelmingly unpopular from both Chamble and Dunwoody stakeholders, but what about moving the Chamblee Magnet program to a more central location, redistricting portions of Dunwoody to Chamblee??? (ducks for cover). Chamblee would certainly be closer to many areas of Dunwoody than a Doraville High School.  

There has got to be some outside of the box thinking and planning.  Just “build a Doraville HS” and problem will be solved is not realistic in my opinion.   I don’t know the answer, but it doesn’t seem anyone else does either.  

FTE Data courtesy of the Georgia Department of Education: https://oraapp.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fte_pack_enrollgrade.entry_form

Enrollment data courtesy of the DeKalb County School System:  https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/operations/planning/

Forecast data courtesy of the DeKalb County School System:  https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/applications/operations/planning/forecast/dcsd-enrollment-forecast-all-schools.pdf

Update

I formerly ran the Dunwoody School Daze blog. I took a break from blogging to care for my mother who recently passed away.  My oldest daughter is getting married in August. Life got a little overwhelming for a bit. I’m going to try this blogging thing again and see what happens. I had to give the blog a new name. Blogger would not allow me to reuse the previous name.  I also thought I would incorporate the Chamblee cluster as there many similar issues facing both Dunwoody and Chamblee.

Dunwoody HS Girls Track Team & Chamblee HS Tennis Teams Honored at Board of Education Meeting

The DeKalb County School District Board of Education honored the Dunwoody High School Girls Track and Field Team and the Chamblee Charter High School Boys and Girls Tennis Teams for their recent State Championships.

The Dunwoody High Girls won the 2019 Class 6A state track and field championship on May 11, 2019.

Both Chamblee Teams won the 2019 5A State Tennis Championships.