TRUST in the Schoolhouse

Allgood Elementary
Congratulations to Allgood Elementary staff, who recently received $10,000 in grant funds thanks to a partnership with United Way. Funds from the grant will be used to implement LIFE PATH, an organization designed to promote family engagement between childcare centers and schools.

Austin Elementary
Congratulations to Austin principal Ann Culbreath for being named the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Educator Award by Auburn University’s College of Education. The award recognizes alumni who are engaging with students and making exemplary contributions to the field of education. Dr. Culbreath will be formally honored on April 11, 2019.

Avondale Elementary
Congratulations to the winning team in Avondale Elementary’s inaugural Step Challenge. The winning team had 26 participants who completed a total of 3,769,160 steps in three weeks.

Bethune Middle
Bethune Middle recently launched Mindset Monday. Each week, students are encouraged to focus and center themselves on excellence in academics. Each member of the school staff helps by creating signs of encouragement.

Bob Mathis Elementary
Congratulations to Bob Mathis Elementary, who successfully completed its fifth annual Random Acts of Kindness event. On Dec. 22, school students and staff surprised DeKalb County Firefighters with singing, fellowship, and gifts for the department.

Cedar Grove High
Congratulations to Cedar Grove High, which recently hosted a Guardians Reading in the Schoolhouse (GRITS) event. The event is designed for parents and families to understand how they can support student literacy and improve test scores. Cedar Grove will host a similar event on Feb. 12 for mathematics.

Chamblee Charter High
Congratulations to the Lady Bulldogs Tennis Team for winning the 2018 State Tennis title. This year’s win marks the second consecutive year the team has claimed the title, with a 47-0 record over the past two years.

Chamblee Middle
Congratulations to students Nick Harrison and Lyle Foley, who both earned First Chair honors in All State Middle School Band.

Congratulations to the Chamblee Middle Robodogs, who won the award for Robot Design at the Super Regionals robotics competition.

Congratulations to the Chamblee Middle 7th Grade Math Team, who claimed second place in the Alabama School of Fine Arts Mathematics Tournament on Jan. 19. An extra congratulations is extended to Micah Burton, who earned second place in the written test, as well as Aiden Lee, who earned 10th place.

Clarkston High
Congratulations to the Clarkston High School Cook-It Angoras, who were recently named DeKalb County Torchbearers by county government. Led by Chef Jessie McNair, the Cook-It Angoras were honored at a recent DeKalb County Commissioner’s meeting by Commissioner Steve Bradshaw.

Congratulations to students Emanuel Acosta and Najama Noor for qualifying for the state Future Business Leaders of America conference.

Columbia High
Congratulations to Columbia High basketball coach Phil McCrary, who was recently recognized by The Champion newspaper for reaching a 27-year coaching career milestone. McCrary has the most wins in DeKalb County history and quickly approaching his 600th overall. He has also been inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame.

DeKalb Early College Academy
Congratulations to students Thang Huynh, Christopher Ballenger, and Moontashir Siam for earning first-place finishes at the most recent DCSD Technology Fair.

Dunaire Elementary
Congratulations to the Dynamix DeKalb Orff Ensemble, who performed at the International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois in December 2018. The Midwest Clinic is one of the largest music education conferences in the world. The ensemble, comprised of students from throughout DCSD and headed by teacher Chelsea Cook, performed twice at the conference and was named one of the best at the conference overall.

Dunwoody High
Congratulations to student Whitney Shapiro for winning the 16th Annual Georgia High School Writing Contest. As a winner, Shapiro was awarded $1,000 to use for school-related expenses.

Congratulations to students Anna Wilkinson, Luke Freedman, Robert Freedman, and Samuel Wingert for earning a spot on All-State Chorus.

Congratulations to the Dunwoody High School Speech Team for earning top prizes at the recent Alpharetta High Speech & Debate Tournament. Students Millie Kitchin and Oskar Schinder both earned first-place finishes. The team also participated in the 2019 Barkley Forum at Emory University.

Dunwoody High School’s wrestling team earned the top spot at the DeKalb County High School Championships. Congratulations!

Freedom Middle
Congratulations to the Freedom Middle Freebots Robotics team for winning the First Lego League robotics competition on January 12.

Indian Creek Elementary
Congratulations to students Gary Adams Jr., Ciin Sang, Vasti Ngozanthlei and Gabriel Butts for earning spots on the DeKalb Elementary Honor Chorus. Each student was chosen based on exceptional music ability, including pitch matching and tone quality. They joined 100 other students across the district to sing at Lakeside High on February 9.

Martin Luther King Jr. High
Congratulations to the MLK High marching band, the Kings of Halftime, for performing at three Superbowl events on January 26, January 28, and February 3.

Miller Grove Middle
Congratulations to the Miller Grove Middle PTA, who partnered with Home Depot and other sponsors to improve the school’s restroom facilities. Students, faculty, staff, parents, and community members came together on Jan. 21 to improve school restrooms.

Murphey Candler Elementary
Congratulations to Murphey Candler for launching the “Healthy Eating Around the World” initiative. The initiative highlights a region in Africa or country affected by the African diaspora each month, seeking to change the narrative of how these regions are perceived and portrayed through art, music, clothing, interesting facts, and cuisine.

Oakcliff Elementary
Congratulations to the Oakcliff Elementary Academic Bowl Team, who recently competed in the annual DCSD Academic Bowl Competition and claimed fourth place, the school’s highest finish in recent years. Team members include Anessa Belisario, Efren MartinSanchez, Paola Cruz, Jesus Sotelo-Lopez, Gage Smith, and Joshua Berduo-Gomez. The head coach is teacher Jessica Lembach.

Rainbow Elementary
Congratulations to Rainbow for teaming with Scholastic Books and the Meemic Foundation to provide each student with a $15 voucher to their school-specific book fair. Teachers were also awarded a $50 voucher as part of the partnership.

Rockbridge Elementary
Rockbridge was recently named the beneficiary of the NFL’s Super Kids Campaign. As the recipient, Rockbridge received a donation of sports equipment, books, and school supplies.

Shadow Rock Elementary
Congratulations to Shadow Rock, which was named the recipient of this year’s Operation Warm Grant. Funds provided by the grant help provide coats for students. This year, more than 500 students received coats to help during winter weather.

Shadow Rock recently hosted a Men’s Conference and Read Aloud, which saw a full-house of fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and community officials read to classes after hearing words from Commissioner Larry Johnson.

Southwest DeKalb High
Congratulations to the fifty students and six chaperones who joined CEO/Superintendent Dr. R. Stephen Green to the MLK Lecture Series at Morehouse College.

Warren Technical High
Congratulations to Warren Tech, which hosted the Awareness Series on January 22. The Awareness Series is a presentation on concerns with Human Trafficking, with Candice Jett, Public Health Advisor, serving as a key note speaker.