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Recognition Program Salutes 2010 VALS & SALS

Published on May 31, 2010 in Academic Excellence, Exceptional Education, Student Achievement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Salutatorian, Valedictorian.

DeKalb County School System honored the 2010 Valedictorians and Salutatorians from 21 high schools with a special recognition program held Thursday evening, May 6, 2010 at Lithonia High School.

The Valedictorians and Salutatorians were honored with well wishes from Board of Education Chair Thomas Bowen, and members Sarah Copelin-Wood, Jesse “Jay” Cunningham, Jr., Don McChesney, Dr. Pamela Speaks, and H. Paul Womack, Jr.; and greeted with remarks from Interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson.

The program included musical performances by Evan Tyor, Salutatorian at DeKalb High School of the Arts, Diem-Anh Vo, Valedictorian and Hanna Wichmann, Co-Salutatorian at Druid Hills High School as well as a performance by Lithonia High School’s A Capella Choir, directed by Mr. George P. Johnson.

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PTA Reflections Program Honors Young Artists

Published on May 31, 2010 in Cultural Arts, Recent Accolades, Student Achievement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: DeKalb Council of PTAs.

The DeKalb County Council of PTAs recently honored 125 DeKalb students at its annual ‘Reflections’ reception held this year at the DeKalb Tech Conference Center. The students, ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade, were recognized for their work in the arts in seven categories that included Dance Choreography, Music Composition, Literature, Visual Arts, Photography, Film and Video Production, and Special Artists.

The honorees were literally given the red carpet treatment as they entered the hall. As they walked the carpet, they were photographed and even interviewed by reporters from PDS-TV 24, DeKalb County Schools System’s educational access television station.

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DeKalb Students Excel in 2010 Congressional Art Competition

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Cultural Arts, Exceptional Education, Recent Accolades, Student Achievement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Congressional Art Competition.

The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 to provide an opportunity for members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of their young constituents. Since then, more than 650,000 high school students have participated in the nationwide competition, which is open to high school students in each member’s congressional district. One piece of art is selected from each congressional district and is displayed in a walkway between the House office buildings and the U.S. Capitol for the duration of one year.

The following DeKalb County students are award winners in the 2010 Congressional Art Competition from the 4th and 5th Congressional Districts in Georgia.

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Fernbank Science Center Hosts Annual Science Olympiad for Elementary Students

Published on May 31, 2010 in Academic Excellence, Community Involvement, Exceptional Education, Science Education, Student Achievement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Ferbank Science Center, Fernbank Science Center, Lakeside HS, Science Olympiad.

Last month, Fernbank Science Center and the NASA SEMAA Project sponsored the 2010 DeKalb County Elementary Science Olympiad. Led by Michael Dowling, a team of instructors from Fernbank Science Center and other volunteers, more than 600 students representing 25 school teams from DeKalb County participated in competitive events held at DCSS’ Lakeside High School.
Aligned to the Georgia Performance Standards for Science, the Elementary Science Olympiad provided station-to-station activities such that students were able to display their understanding and cognitive abilities in science.

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Seven DCSS Students Awarded Gates Millennium Scholarships

Published on May 31, 2010 in Academic Excellence, Exceptional Education, Student Achievement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Gates Foundation, Gates Millennium Scholarship.

gates_millenium_scholarship Seven DeKalb students were recipients of the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship this year. DeKalb County School System is proud to recognize Druid Hills High School’s Joshua Cole and Jin Kim, Redan High School’s Marcus Benning, India Irish and Diamond Jefferies, and Stone Mountain High School’s Kim Ba and Amberly Holloway as 2010 honorees of the full-tuition scholarship award.

The Gates Millennium Scholars program was founded in 1999 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program seeks to support academic excellence and provide opportunities for minority students with financial need. The scholarship funds a student’s college education and can also be applied to later degrees based on need and academic progress. Additionally, the program places an emphasis on leadership, and it will offer the award recipients opportunities for mentorship and freshman leadership conferences upon their matriculation in the fall.

The DCSS students were very excited to receive the awards.

Diamond Jefferies said, “I am proud; I feel accomplished.”

The scholarship also enabled students to attend their first-choice schools, which in some cases were out of reach due to financial limitations.

India Irish said, “Now, I’ll be able to attend my dream school, and it’s just a blessing.”

Congratulations to DeKalb’s 2010 Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients!

Congratulations Graduates, Class of 2010!

Published on May 31, 2010 in Exceptional Education, Recent Accolades, Student Achievement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Graduation.

Congratulations to the 5,997 students who graduated this year from DeKalb County School System.
You should all be proud of your accomplishments! DCSS wishes you a bright, happy and prosperous future as you pursue your goals.

CEC Awards Night Honors DeKalb’s Exceptional Students

Published on May 31, 2010 in Academic Excellence, Exceptional Education, Student Achievement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Council for Exceptional Children.

The annual Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Awards night may have come a bit later this year, as it was held on the evening of Tuesday, April 20 at The Tabernacle in Decatur. Normally held in conjunction with Exceptional Children’s Week in February, the 2010 ceremony was rescheduled due to a snowstorm. Better late than never, however, for the 133 exceptional education students, grades PreK to 12, honored for their achievements during the school year.

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DCSS Collects Truckloads of Supplies for Haitians

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Parent volunteers, Student Involvement, Uncategorized and Volunteers. Closed Tags: Earthquake relief, Haiti, ServeHaiti.

June 2, 2010 will be a day that the staff and volunteers of the local non-profit, ServeHaiti, will never forget. It is the day they received truckloads of medical supplies from their new-found friends in DeKalb County. After embarking on a system-wide, three-month collection drive for the victims of the Haitian earthquake, DeKalb County School System delivered the goods just in time for ServeHaiti’s June mission trips to the recovering nation.

“This gesture of support is unbelievable, and DeKalb’s timing is impeccable,” exclaimed ServeHaiti Executive Director Joanne McGriff. “Because of Customs restrictions in Haiti, we haven’t been able to send a delegation or any supplies to Haiti since February, and we are about to make a series of trips to Haiti this month. Now it looks like we won’t have to purchase supplies like we’d planned to take with us!”
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A Spotlight on Literacy in DeKalb County: Three Shining Stars

Published on May 31, 2010 in Academic Excellence, Reading Programs, Recent Accolades, Student Achievement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Literact.

There are signs sprinkled around DeKalb schoolhouses and libraries containing four words; the words sometimes rest above a scenic vista or a far away fantasyland. These posters are everywhere. It is very likely that many have walked right by them without even giving a second glance. These signs vividly state: READING TAKES YOU PLACES.

What does that mean, though? Where does reading actually take you? The phrase may mean different things to different people, but there is a group of DeKalb County students proving that reading can truly take you places you’ve never been. According to DeKalb County student Daniel Bynum, reading can even make you money.

“You see, I won $100,” Daniel said.

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DeKalb Children & Teens Encouraged to Participate in Library’s Vacation Reading Program

Published on May 31, 2010 in Exceptional Education, Reading Programs, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed

DeKalb County Public Library partners with DeKalb County School System and the City Schools of Decatur to promote summer reading

DeKalb County Public Library Youth Services staff, DeKalb County School System and the City Schools of Decatur’s teacher-librarians are encouraging children and teens to read over the summer by participating in the Vacation Reading Program. Because public libraries and school media centers share the same goal of fostering the love of books and reading, the Vacation Reading Program is a continuum of the reading efforts of teacher-librarians and teachers.

DeKalb County Schools Supporting Student Achievement through Educational Technology

Published on May 31, 2010 in Exceptional Education, Facilities, School Improvement, Student Achievement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed

21st Century tools and resources are proving to be effective tools for engaging local students in learning

DeKalb County School System (DCSS) is engaging today’s technology-fluent students in learning by integrating digital content into classroom lessons to teach the Georgia Performance Standards.

With a mission to prepare students to compete in a global society, DCSS is at the forefront of area school districts integrating 21st Century classroom tools such as digital streaming video and virtual experiments to improve academic achievement. DCSS receives GPB Education Streaming, a digital streaming media service, through Georgia Public Broadcasting. Provided to all schools across the state at no cost, GPB Education Streaming offers teachers and students an online library of 125,000 digital assets from Discovery Education and more than 700 local and state productions aligned to Georgia’s academic performance standards. Searchable by keyword, content area and grade level, the rich video content and other digital assets delivered to schools by GPB Education Streaming can be integrated into DeKalb’s elementary curriculum.
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Olympic Gold Medalist Visits Cary Reynolds Elementary

Published on May 31, 2010 in Active Lifestyle, Community Involvement, Exceptional Education, Healthy Students, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Cary Reynolds Elementary School, Olympics, Steve Mesler.

Technology is a powerful mechanism. In fact, technology, through social media, brought together renowned athlete and an admiring bunch of eight-year olds. Olympic Gold medalist Steve Mesler developed a relationship with the third grade students at DeKalb’s Cary Reynolds Elementary School over the winter, communicating with students using an interactive, video/voice application, Skype.

While the students mostly chatted with the medalist from their classroom and him from the Olympic Village during the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Mesler visited the school this spring to meet the students in person. Mesler was making good on a promise made to them during the Olympics.

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DeKalb Youth Symphony Spring Concert Showcases Talent

Published on May 31, 2010 in Cultural Arts, Exceptional Education and Student Achievement. Closed Tags: DeKalb Youth Symphony.

The DeKalb Youth Symphony (D.Y.S.) recently played its spring concert at the Clarkston campus of Georgia Perimeter College. In D.Y.S., young virtuosos embrace the opportunity to perform more challenging pieces than some school bands offer. Additionally, students appreciate playing with a wider variety of instruments (or voices, as musicians would say).

Druid Hills High School Senior Hannah Wichmann shed light on the topic, “I felt like DeKalb Youth Symphony gave me a way to get exposure to a bunch of different kinds of music, because in school you have kind of a limited repertoire of what you can play.”

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Response to Intervention (RTI):
A Framework for Student Progress

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, School Improvement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Response to Intervention.

As school systems throughout the country look to embrace methods that will support the achievement of all students, DeKalb County School System’s Student Support Services Department has steadily made inroads toward developing and implementing a model for Response to Intervention in DeKalb schools.

This semester, the department of Student Support Services joined with the Student Support Team Association for Georgia Educators (SSTAGE) and the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) to host a Response to Intervention (RTI) workshop for high school teams. School-based teams representing school districts throughout Georgia attended the capacity filled workshop hosted by DeKalb. The workshop, “Developing a Framework for RTI in High Schools: Addressing Challenges and Opportunities for Success” aided in the implementation of RTI at the secondary school level.

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Champion Students Shadow City Government and Receive Recognition for Achievements

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Exceptional Education, Student Achievement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Mayor Patricia Wheeler, stone mountain.

In early May, a group of students from Champion Theme Middle School’s chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) had an opportunity to learn about local government first-hand when they spent the day shadowing officials from the City of Stone Mountain.

The students spent May 4 with city employees including Mayor Patricia Wheeler at City Hall and learned what it takes to keep a small city running smoothly.

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Kaiser Permanente Volunteers Build Bikes for Knollwood

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Exceptional Education, Healthy Students, Partnerships, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Kaiser Permanente, Knollwood Elementary School.

Twelve lucky Knollwood Elementary School students recently received brand new bicycles thanks to the community service efforts of Kaiser Permanente. Select students were chosen to participate in a special drawing for which they were eligible based on their achievements throughout the school year. The students’ grades, CRCT results, and improvement in various academic areas were all taken into consideration in determining their eligibility for the drawing. At the drawing’s close, six boys and six girls were selected to win the bikes

Patti Austin of Kaiser Permanente was among the volunteers present who spent the day assembling the bikes.
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Speed Throw Contest Gets DCSS Students Moving

Published on May 31, 2010 in Active Lifestyle, Community Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Stone Mountain Middle School.

DeKalb students are getting active! This year DeKalb County students became more engaged in physical activity through the Hoop Atlanta Bounce Back Program. DeKalb Schools partnered with Converse and the Health Education and Communication Center of Atlanta (HECA) to offer a Speed Throw competition for all interested middle and high school students. The competition was held in May at Stone Mountain Middle School.

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Smoke Rise Elementary Hosts Second Annual Electronics Recycling Event

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Conservation, Parent volunteers, Uncategorized and Volunteers. Closed Tags: recycling, Smoke Rise Elementary.

Thousands of pounds of electronic equipment were collected this year during the second annual Electronics Recycling Event sponsored by the Smoke Rise Elementary School Environmental Club. The event, hosted on the first weekend in May, was held in conjunction with the Smoke Rise Earth Day Festival.

Working with Atlanta Recycling Solutions, the elementary school’s Environmental Club collected old computer equipment, TVs, cell phones, VCRs and many other electronic items that had outlived their life spans.

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Career Day Gives Towers High Students Options for the Future

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Exceptional Education, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed

Towers High School held its annual Career Day this semester. The event, sponsored by the Hank Stewart Foundation, was designed to expose students to a variety of career options available to them upon graduation.

Seventy-eight guest speakers were present to talk to students during the day-long event. The list of presenters was peppered with well-known names such as former NFL star Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, 11-Alive Sports Anchor Sam Crenshaw and DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson.

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Debutant Cotillion Presents Young Ladies of Avondale High School

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Cultural Arts, Exceptional Education, Healthy Students, Student Achievement, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Avondale HS, Cotillion.

Avondale High School brought back an age-old tradition this spring with introduction of the AHS Debutante Cotillion. The Cotillion is a patterned social dance that originated in France in the 1700’s and became popular in the French courts for two centuries. This semester it was one of the most popular events at the DeKalb high school.

Avondale PTSA President Verlissa White spearheaded the preparations for the first-ever Debutantes of Avondale Cotillion held in May at the school. Twenty-five young ladies ranging from freshmen to seniors were presented to their parents, society and peers.

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Shadow Rock Elementary Hosts Public Works Day

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Conservation and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Public Works, Shadow Rock Elementary.

When fourth-grader Nina Grant’s design was selected as the winner of this year’s DeKalb Public Works t-shirt design contest, she earned her school, Shadow Rock Elementary, the right to host the big event that caps Public Works Week in DeKalb County.

“We celebrate the men and women who work in the public works field,” said Mr. Damon Johnson, Public Education Specialist for the Department of Public Works. “We celebrate the contributions they make every day on the job.”

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Chamblee Middle School Celebrates Earth Day

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Conservation, Exceptional Education and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Chamblee Middle School, Earth Day.

Chamblee Middle School celebrated Earth Day on April 30 with a full slate of guests and activities. The DeKalb school used the event to promote going green, recycling and saving the planet. Local dignitaries were on hand as well as earth-friendly vendors to educate students about the value of living a “green” lifestyle.

Among the speakers was Ms. Elizabeth Heckman, a DeKalb Schools Area Assistant Superintendent who spoke to the students about the history of Earth Day and the movement toward environmental responsibility. She stunned students with her memories of a time when cars had no air conditioning, restaurants had no drive-through windows and people would routinely throw trash out of car windows.
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DeKalb High School Students’ Work Displayed at Georgia Perimeter College

Published on May 31, 2010 in Cultural Arts, Exceptional Education, Student Achievement and Uncategorized. Closed

Despite cuts in programs across American schools, the fine arts are still alive and well in DeKalb County School System.

For an entire week in may, Georgia Perimeter College’s Department of Art, in collaboration with DeKalb County Schools, hosted the annual DeKalb High School Students Art Exhibition. The show, which has existed for six years, was previously titled “21” for the number of high schools in DeKalb County eligible to submit artwork.

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Avondale Elementary Celebrates Cultural Diversity

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Cultural Arts, Student Involvement and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Cinco de Mayo, diversity.

Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexico’s victory over the French army on May 5, 1862 in the city of Puebla. The day is mainly a regional celebration in Mexico and was brought to the United States by Mexican-Americans. Avondale Elementary School students spent the day learning about Latin-American culture as they played games, made Mexican beads and masks and, of course took a swing at the piñata.

Each student received a gift bag to take home containing treats, pencils, bookmarks and activity worksheets to further their understanding of the holiday and its significance.

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DCSS Transportation Department Honors its “Stars”

Published on May 31, 2010 in DCS Staff and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: Transportation.

This school year was a season of stars in DeKalb County School System. The school district’s Department of Transportation held an “Evening with the Stars” awards banquet in late April to recognize this year’s outstanding transportation employees. The celebration featured entertainment, dancing and awards for those in attendance.

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Junior Achievement Gives Salem Middle School Students a Leg Up on Business

Published on May 31, 2010 in Community Involvement, Parent volunteers, Uncategorized and Volunteers. Closed Tags: Junior Achievement, Salem Middle School.

More than 50 volunteers from the business community gathered at Salem Middle School on May 11 for Junior Achievement (JA) Day to donate their time and energy to give students a peek at what their futures might hold. The volunteers came from several local businesses including TRX, Harland Clarke and others.

Ms. Corie Whidden, JA Operations Manager in DeKalb County, coordinated the day with the faculty at Salem. After five years of presenting the program to eighth graders only at Salem, the event was expanded for the first time to also include sixth and seventh graders.

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Fun Run & Health Fair Provide Ideas for Better Living

Published on May 31, 2010 in Active Lifestyle, Community Involvement, DCS Staff, Healthy Students, Uncategorized and Wellness. Closed Tags: DeKalb Council of PTAs.

The DeKalb Council of PTAs’ 5th annual Fun Run/Walk and Health Fair held this semester at Hallford Stadium was an event of residual benefits. The annual event was hours of fun for community participants and also provided a wealth of activities and information to help attendees along a path to a healthier lifestyle.

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DeKalb Library Encourages Students to Participate in ‘Design-a-Library Card’ Contest

Published on May 31, 2010 in Cultural Arts, Student Achievement and Student Involvement. Closed Tags: DeKalb County Library.

For the first time ever, DeKalb County Public Library will use designs from DeKalb County residents for its library cards and is inviting DeKalb students to take part. The Library is holding a Design-a-Library-Card art contest this spring and summer with the winning designs to be featured on limited edition library cards. The new cards will be available to the public beginning in September of this year as September is ‘National Library Card Sign-Up Month.’

The DeKalb County Public Library began accepting designs from DeKalb residents on Tuesday, April 13 and the contest concluded Tuesday, June 15, 2010. Submitted designs will be placed in three age-group categories—children (5-12 years old), teens (13-17) and adults (18 and older).
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May Board Recognitions

Published on May 31, 2010 in Academic Excellence, Administration, Community Involvement, Exceptional Education, Faculty Recognition, Student Achievement and Uncategorized. Closed

There were several recognitions of outstanding achievements made at the May 3 meeting of the DeKalb School Board.
Emily Farek of Lakeside High School was honored for her excellence in earning the Girl Scouts of America Gold Award for her service to others, academic achievement and creating and implementing an after-school art program for DeKalb students at Kittredge Magnet School.

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