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DeKalb County School District | |
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Address | |
1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard , Georgia , 30083United States | |
District information | |
Type | Suburban/urban public |
Grades | Pre-kindergarten – 12 |
Established | 1873 |
Superintendent | Devon Horton |
Accreditation | AdvancED [1] |
Schools | 131 [2] |
Budget | $1.097 billion |
Students and staff | |
Students | 92,368 (2022–23) [2] |
Teachers | 6,250.30 (FTE) [2] |
Staff | 6,434.70 (FTE) [2] |
Student–teacher ratio | 14.78 [2] |
Other information | |
Telephone | (678) 676-1200 |
Website | dekalbschoolsga.org |
The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) is a school district headquartered at 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, near Stone Mountain and in the Atlanta metropolitan area. [1] DCSD operates public schools in areas of DeKalb County that are not within the city limits of Atlanta and Decatur. It served a portion of Atlanta annexed by that city in 2018 until 2024, when that portion was re-assigned to Atlanta Public Schools (APS).
The school district is overseen by the seven-member DeKalb County Board of Education. [3] The superintendent/CEO is, as of June 8, 2024, Dr. Devon Q. Horton. [4] The system educates more than 102,000 students at 138 schools with more than 14,000 full-time employees and 6,000 teachers. In 2018, the school system graduated over 5,800 students from high school.
The district includes three of the top-ranked schools in the nation in 2018 according to U.S. News & World Report . [5] The DeKalb School of the Arts earned a gold designation after being ranked No. 75 overall, and No. 2 in Georgia. Chamblee Charter High School also earned a gold designation, ranking No. 457 nationwide and No. 14 in Georgia. The Arabia Mountain High School Academy of Engineering-Medicine performed well enough to earn a silver designation, ranking No. 58 in Georgia. DeKalb Early College Academy earned a bronze designation, ranking No. 68 in Georgia.
DCSD is also home to Henderson Mill Elementary School, the first STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) certified school in Georgia. [6]
In 2017, the DeKalb County School District received a full, five-year renewal of its accreditation from AdvancED, through 2022. [7] The renewal comes after the district regained full accreditation in 2016. [8]
On December 17, 2012, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced that it had downgraded the DeKalb County School District's status from "on advisement" to "on probation" and warned the school system that the loss of their accreditation was "imminent." [9]
On January 21, 2014, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced that it had upgraded the DeKalb County School District's status from "probation" to "accredited warned" which is below full accreditation status. [10]
In 2017, the DCSD College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) score increased to 70, up from 66 in 2016. Since 2016, the CCRPI score for elementary schools increased five points; middle schools increased three points; and high schools increased nearly one full point. [11]
In 2017, more than 2,500 students in DCSD took the ACT, earning a composite score of 19.8, compared to last year's composite score of 19.4. [12] That same year, more than 3,500 students took the SAT; the district's total composite score continues to improve year-over-year. DeKalb's 2017 total mean score for the SAT was 980. [13]
The four-year graduation rate for DCSD's Class of 2017 was 74 percent, a four-point increase from the 2016 graduation rate of 70 percent. Between 2013 and 2017, the District graduation rate improved 14 percentage points. [14]
Indictment
Former DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis was indicted in 2012, along with former DeKalb County Schools Chief Operating Officer Pat Pope (Reed), and others, on criminal charges related to a school construction scandal. The indictment listed four counts of racketeering, as well as theft by taking and bribery. [15]
On August 20, 2013, a man with an AK-47 entered the front office of Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, an elementary school, and barricaded himself. He fired six shots at police officers outside, who returned fire. The school's students were evacuated. Antoinette Tuff, a school bookkeeper, was able to convince him to surrender without further violence; she was later praised by President Barack Obama for her courage and calmness in defusing the situation. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
From April 19–23, 2018 nearly 400 school bus drivers for the district participated in a strike over low pay and little employee benefits. Inspired in part by the concurrent nationwide teacher strikes in states such as West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona, bus drivers for the district planned a "sick-out". About 42 percent of bus drivers in the county participated, causing nearly 60-90 minute delays in students being picked up for school. As a right-to-work state, public sector employees are prohibited in Georgia from striking. The strike resulted in at least 7 bus drivers, particularly ones who helped organize the strike, being terminated of employment. [24]
The City of Atlanta, in 2017, agreed to annex territory in DeKalb County, including the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University, effective January 1, 2018. [25] In 2016 Emory University made a statement that "Annexation of Emory into the City of Atlanta will not change school districts, since neighboring communities like Druid Hills will still be self-determining regarding annexation." [26] By 2017 the city agreed to include the annexed area in the boundaries of Atlanta Public Schools (APS), a move decried by the leadership of the DeKalb county district as it would take taxable property away from that district. [25] In 2017 the number of children living in the annexed territory who attended public schools was nine. [27] The area ultimately went to APS, [25] and as part of a 2019 settlement Emory would help establish school-based clinics for DeKalb schools. Students will be rezoned to APS effective 2024; they will be zoned to DeKalb schools before then. [28]
Zoned
Sky Haven Elementary
Optional
Zoned
Optional
Zoned
Optional
Alternative
Centers:
The district offers 17 athletic programs and earned 253 state championships dating back to 1938; the majority of the titles came from track and field and wrestling. The county provides five athletic stadiums:
Stadium | Year constructed | Seating capacity | Location | Additional information |
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Adams Stadium | 1962 | 6,500 (one side of field) | Unincorporated - adjacent to the old Briarcliff High School building | Renovated summer 2016 |
Avondale Stadium | 1958 | 6,500 (one side of field) | Unincorporated - adjacent to City of Avondale Estates | |
James R. Hallford Stadium | 1968 | 15,600 (both sides of field) | Unincorporated - adjacent to City of Clarkston and the Clarkston Campus of Georgia State University Perimeter College | Formerly named Memorial Stadium. |
North DeKalb Stadium | 1962 | 6,500 (one side of field) | Within the city limits of Chamblee | |
William "Buck" Godfrey Stadium | 1968 | 8,500 | Unincorporated - adjacent to the Georgia State University Perimeter College Decatur Campus | Formerly named Panthersville Stadium |
DeKalb County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur.
Avondale Estates is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,567 in 2020. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area and is near Decatur.
Chamblee is a city in northern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta. The population was 30,164 as of the 2020 census.
Decatur is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear Decatur as the address.
Doraville is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,623.
Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008 but its area establishment dates back to the early 1830s. As of 2020, the city had a population of 51,683.
Lithonia is a city in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The city's population was 2,662 at the 2020 census. Lithonia is in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Redan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 31,749. It is a predominantly African American community in eastern DeKalb County, and is a suburb of Atlanta.
Scottdale is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 10,698 in 2020.
Brookhaven, formerly North Atlanta, is a city in the northeastern suburbs of Atlanta that is located in western DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, directly northeast of Atlanta. On July 31, 2012, Brookhaven was approved in a referendum to become DeKalb County's 11th city. Incorporation officially took place on December 17, 2012, on which date municipal operations commenced. The new city stretches over 12 square miles (31 km2). With a population of 56,795 as of the 2020 census, it is the second largest city located fully within DeKalb County, behind Stonecrest.
Redan High School is a public secondary school of the DeKalb County School District located in Redan, Georgia.
Chamblee High School, formerly known as Chamblee Charter High School, is a public secondary school located in Chamblee, Georgia, United States. As of 2010, it serves 1512 students in grades 9–12. It is the second oldest high school of the DeKalb County School District, having opened in 1917.
Martin Luther King Jr. High School is a public high school located in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, with a Lithonia postal address. It opened in August 2001 as the newest high school in the DeKalb County School System, and was named after the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Druid Hills High School is a high school operated by the DeKalb County School District. It is located at 1798 Haygood Drive, in the Druid Hills CDP in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It serves the Druid Hills CDP and portions of the North Decatur and North Druid Hills CDPs.
Southwest DeKalb High School (SWD) is a high school located in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the DeKalb County School System. It houses one of the two High Achievers Magnet Programs in DeKalb County, the other being Chamblee High School. There are also three Special Interest Magnet schools in Dekalb County. Arabia Mountain High School - Environment, Energy, and Engineering, Columbia High School - Math, Science, and Technology, and the Dekalb School of Arts.
Dunwoody High School is a public high school in Dunwoody, an incorporated city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States.
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixth-largest in the United States, based on the July 1, 2023 metropolitan area population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Its economic, cultural, and demographic center is Atlanta, and its total population was 6,307,261 in the 2023 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Towers High School (THS) is a high school in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the DeKalb County School System. It is physically within the Belvedere Park census-designated place, but has a Decatur postal address.
Murphey Candler Park is a 135-acre multi-use park located in Brookhaven, Georgia, United States. The park is owned and operated by the City of Brookhaven. Park amenities include multi-use fields, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a playground, picnic areas, a lake, and trails. Youth sports are offered through baseball, softball, and football programs that operate through the park. The lake at Murphey Candler Park offers fishing, and it is home to largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, and channel catfish. The lake is also home to Canada Geese, Mallards, other ducks and beavers.
Avondale High School is a former high school located in unincorporated Dekalb County, Georgia, United States; a part of the DeKalb County School District, it was adjacent to, but not inside, the City of Avondale Estates. It closed in May 2011. Its former campus is now used exclusively by the DeKalb School of the Arts, a magnet school.
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