Druid Hills Middle School? (Atlanta, Washington: low income, insurance, buy)

[jeoff]

Well, thanks for the info. Not what I hoped, but pretty much what I expected.

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

If you are deciding between Druid Hills cluster vs. Lakeside cluster, I would pick Lakeside if it was based on the public schools. If I wasn't looking at schools I would go with Druid Hills.

As others have pointed out most people who live in Druid Hills zoned to Fernbank leave for Woodward and Paideia. I do know people in central DeKalb who go through MS and leave for St. Pius. Really there are a lot of problems in DCSS. I don't know how else to put it.

[atlantamoi]

A wee bit off topic, but what is the current thinking on Druid Hills High School? I hadn't put much thought into the Druid Hills Middle absorbing some of Avondale Middle (which feeds into the Druid High). We've been very happy with Museum School and are many years away from high school. I've seen so many changes in 10 years I don't even know if Druid Hills High will be our school, but I'm curious of opinions.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaLakeSearch

If you are deciding between Druid Hills cluster vs. Lakeside cluster, I would pick Lakeside if it was based on the public schools. If I wasn't looking at schools I would go with Druid Hills.

As others have pointed out most people who live in Druid Hills zoned to Fernbank leave for Woodward and Paideia. I do know people in central DeKalb who go through MS and leave for St. Pius. Really there are a lot of problems in DCSS. I don't know how else to put it.

That is an exaggeration. Probably around 70-80% stay in public (I've heard involved people say 90%, but that seems high). There were only 7 or 8 admitted to those two schools last year from those finishing up at Fernbank.

As for DHHS and Lakeside HS, you have some of the same dynamics. You want to be in IB at DHHS or the comparable program at Lakeside. People in those programs seem reasonably happy. But both schools had a 62% graduation rate in the new state graduation calculations last year. That's just abysmal.

[atlantamoi]

Originally Posted by bu2

But both schools had a 62% graduation rate in the new state graduation calculations last year.

That's just doesn't even calculate in my head. Wow. Hard to believe our education system would let that many people fall through the cracks.

[bu2]

And a lot would say Lakeside is the best HS in DeKalb County. Druid Hills is relatively high also.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by bu2

And a lot would say Lakeside is the best HS in DeKalb County. Druid Hills is relatively high also.

Both those schools have lower grad rates than they should. I think Lakeside has struggled with weak administration for the last 6 or more years and I can't really explain DH. DH's SAT scores are really poor now too. Something clearly is going on there but

If you have smart, motivated kids I believe they can succeed there.

(Dunwoody has higher grad rates and SATs than DH and so does Chamblee -- but it houses a magnet program which pushes all its stats higher)

[LovelySummer]

What's really amazing to me is how many schools are failing. The OP should not have to post here and try to find out if the school that he is targeting is a good school. They should ALL be good schools. Period. Radical concept but all education should be provided in a good and worthwhile setting that reaches the highest levels for all children involved. If the stock market operated this way of hit or miss, there would be alot more bankrupt people/companies.

The public school system should be ashamed in this way. They are totally falling down on one of the most important jobs in our world...educating the next generation.

Meanwhile, millions for new baseball and football stadiums.

And why is it a matter of parents kicking the school in the butt before the school gets it's act together? Truth be told, it should not matter whether parents are actively involved in a school as to how the school is being run. The people running it should be competent and together enough to do their job or get out of it. Point blank. The problem is that too many people are incompetent in our educational system and seem to be just sitting around waiting for retirement/pension.

Oh yeah, back to our regularly scheduled program of millions for baseball and football stadiums.

The U.S. has the best sports arenas in the world. No where near the top in education, however. What's wrong with this picture?

And Atlanta is following suit along with the rest of the country. We have kids sitting in trailers, 25 kindergarteners per class and building two new stadiums that we don't even need. WTH?

What I want the next group of people running for governor to do is tell us how they are going to fix the issues with public school in this state. The incompetents need to be called on the rug and evicted.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

What's really amazing to me is how many schools are failing. The OP should not have to post here and try to find out if the school that he is targeting is a good school. They should ALL be good schools. Period. Radical concept but all education should be provided in a good and worthwhile setting that reaches the highest levels for all children involved. If the stock market operated this way of hit or miss, there would be alot more bankrupt people/companies.

The public school system should be ashamed in this way. They are totally falling down on one of the most important jobs in our world...educating the next generation.

Meanwhile, millions for new baseball and football stadiums.

And why is it a matter of parents kicking the school in the butt before the school gets it's act together? Truth be told, it should not matter whether parents are actively involved in a school as to how the school is being run. The people running it should be competent and together enough to do their job or get out of it. Point blank. The problem is that too many people are incompetent in our educational system and seem to be just sitting around waiting for retirement/pension.

Oh yeah, back to our regularly scheduled program of millions for baseball and football stadiums.

The U.S. has the best sports arenas in the world. No where near the top in education, however. What's wrong with this picture?

And Atlanta is following suit along with the rest of the country. We have kids sitting in trailers, 25 kindergarteners per class and building two new stadiums that we don't even need. WTH?

What I want the next group of people running for governor to do is tell us how they are going to fix the issues with public school in this state. The incompetents need to be called on the rug and evicted.

DeKalb County has the 2nd highest school tax rate in the state. And the incompetents did get evicted in DeKalb County by the governor (after the voters had already removed several others). And DHMS has some very involved parents. I know 4 of the 6 PTA officers and they all have been very active for some time. There's a school board member with kids there also. The area just proposed a charter cluster (all 5 elementary schools, the middle school and high school) but got shot down 5-4 by the school board after the administration fought it. There is a lot to overcome when your district and county have been run by criminals (prior superintendent and County CEO are currently under indictment).

[LovelySummer]

Are you saying they stole money? If so, action needs to be taken to take everything they own, investnts including forever to re-pay. Going to jail is not enough. I want the money back also. I feel the same way about the previous APS Superintendent. She needs to rot in jail AND they need to reach every asset that she has, including trust and will assets, to take all of those bonuses and money back!

Originally Posted by bu2

DeKalb County has the 2nd highest school tax rate in the state. And the incompetents did get evicted in DeKalb County by the governor (after the voters had already removed several others). And DHMS has some very involved parents. I know 4 of the 6 PTA officers and they all have been very active for some time. There's a school board member with kids there also. The area just proposed a charter cluster (all 5 elementary schools, the middle school and high school) but got shot down 5-4 by the school board after the administration fought it. There is a lot to overcome when your district and county have been run by criminals (prior superintendent and County CEO are currently under indictment).