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.