Dunwoody Elementary School will be moving its 4th and 5th grades to the former Nancy Creek Elementary School site in Brookhaven this Fall.
DeKalb Schools is moving Kittredge Magnet School from the current Nancy Creek facility to its original location at the former John Lewis facility next to Kittredge Park. The Nancy Creek, geographically located in the Chamblee school cluster, facility will be a 4th and 5th grade annex to Dunwoody Elementary until approximately Fall 2023. It will take 3 years to build a new elementary school to serve the Chamblee and Dunwoody clusters.
Pursuant to Board Policy FDC, the school must be officially named because the “school’s program or grade structure change(d) substantially.” Board Regulation FDC-R details the methodology that must be used to determine a name, colors, and mascot for the schoool.
The regulation allows the naming committee to consist of 11 to 15 members. The regulation states that a number of school district employees are part of the committee and “the primary Board of Education Member shall serve as the Chair”. I am also empowered to select certain members of the committee of which I haven’t done yet. While the Nancy Creek site is in the Chamblee Cluster, board policy states that at large members must reside in the school’s attendance zone.
Refer to the FAQ – Fall 2020 Redistricting Plan for answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Region 1 redistricting plan.
DES SCHOOL COUNCIL
The Dunwoody Elementary School Principal’s Advisory Council April Meeting Minutes indicate that they would like the annex to be named Dunwoody Elementary School Upper Campus (DESUC).
If you have any thoughts or input you would like me to consider, please leave a comment, send me an email or join the naming committee at one of our zoom meetings which I will be scheduling shortly.
FALL 2021 FORECASTED ENROLLMENT
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
This should be amongst the lowest priority right now. Just call it DES Upper Annex and be done. Figure out Overcrowding, furloughs, what we’re doing in the fall and who the superintendent will be.
Call it …a bad idea.
I would love to “just name it” and be done with it, but I’m a stickler for following board policy. Overcrowding, furloughs, budget, COVID-19, deferred maintenance, capital projects, school opening in just over 2 months, etc …. $1.8 billion budget and 15K employees … there’s a lot going on.
De-Suck? Interesting.
Name it Vanderlyn South
Stan,
First, I would like to thank you for this forum. You have given voice to the voiceless. I’m truly sad to see you go. All the metro systems are working to figure out how we open in the fall. Even Atlanta has figured out a way to smooth the departure of Maria with her replacement. Where is Dekalb? Fulton has sent emails to parents to survey their thoughts on how to reopen. We are behind the 8 ball. The naming of a school seems so minor right now. The focus should be on a great leader and opening safely. Teacher furloughs seem like there are coming. You should be working on that calendar.
I think it’s time we named a school after Derwin Brown.
We have a son beginning kindergarten at DES in August and another continuing in 4th grade at the new campus. It is very important to us that the annex still be considered part of DES, and that the name reflect the same. Our rising 4th grader is emotionally ok with the different campus because it was presented to the community as still considered to be part of DES. I love the suggestion of DES Upper Campus, it does just that. The PTA, school events, staff, administration, etc should still remain combined wherever possible, and we would prefer the colors and mascot not be changed. I envision a dark and light blue DES Tiger welcome banner proudly displayed as the students enter their upper campus, signifying they are not being sent away, but rather are just an extension of our school.
How about adding the MES 4th and 5rh graders… looks like there is room and the overcrowding at MES is embarrassing.
Could care less what it’s named…
It should probably not be named Dunwoody. Could you be a little sensitive to your southern neighbors? What’s wrong with Nancy Creek Elementary?
How about DES 4-5 Academy or Trump Academy or Biden Time Polytechnic?
DESUC? Might as well call it Deez Nuts.
Thank you for the update. Will the board determine whether the state school code will align with DES (214) or will the state assign a new number? Will the facility formerly known as Nancy Creek report it’s own testing data? If the school becomes a feeder for Chamblee and Dunwoody schools will testing data report to the student’s original zoned school? Will DES only have 3rd grade data to calculate CCRPI?
The open seats that could be used to provide more relief may impact what a new Superintendent decides to approve as a name.
Doesn’t it say Nancy Creek on it right now? Why rename it when it previously had a name that is still on the building?
Tameka @924, The superintendent doesn’t get to decide to approve a name. The board of ed approves the name.
@Tameka, All good questions. The superintendent will have no input on the name. Otherwise, the board will have no input into the other questions you asked. That will all be decided by the superintendent’s staff. I imagine the state dictates how some of that will be done.
As much as I like DESUC, I second the motion for Deez Nuts … I don’t care who you are, that’s just genius
The school already has a name, Nancy Creek Elementary. Why is it that the families who live in the neighborhood surrounding this school are not allowed to go there,? Families who could walk to school. And Dunwoody kids are being bused in?
The name should stay Nancy Creek Elementary School and it should eventually be filled with students who live in the surrounding neighborhood. Please don’t spend money on a new sign for the sake of renaming a school with a perfectly good name. Please pay our excellent teachers and school staff.
It’s very disappointing that, “ While the Nancy Creek site is in the Chamblee Cluster, board policy states that at large members must reside in the school’s attendance zone.“ Just adding salt to the wound that Dunwoody picked off our “neighborhood school.” I certainly hope it doesn’t get named anything different than its current name. Nancy Creek. We would eventually like our school back when the new Chamblee/Dunwoody school is built. Chamblee cluster projections have us at 137% in 2021 and Dunwoody Cluster at 100%. I guess we need to “squeak” a little louder so we can get our school enrollment at a reasonable level.
Nancy Creek Upper School – It’s not in Dunwoody and what happens in 3 yrs??!! Hopefully they will re-use if for the same purpose as an upper school for Montgomery in 3 yrs.
If you plan on keeping it for Dunwoody and not the students of the neighborhood it sits in and want to waste more time and limited resources, there are a bunch of names that fit. The way this building was stolen from its own neighborhood displays how entirely broken Dekalb is.
The Dekalb CF (cluster f)
Not Chamblee Cluster
Bus Riders Academy
A Long Way from Home
I can’t even believe we are talking about a name change. We were told this was a temporary annex to relieve overcrowding for DES that is after we suggested it be used the same way for MES (insert eye roll). If that is true, and it’s temporary than leave the name as Nancy Creek Elementary. I live 2 doors down and my 5th grader could throw a rock and hit it but I’ll drive him over to his “trailer town” down the street.
Hello @Karla, It is expected that this 4th/5th grade academy will be until Spring 2023. That facility was Nancy Creek Elementary until 2008 and has been Kittredge ever since then. It’s obviously not going to be Kittredge anymore, so I’m putting a naming committee together to decide what the name of the facility will be until Spring 2023.
Restore the name of Nancy Creek Elementary. Done.
I agree with some of the others who suggested making it an upper-grade annex for the 4th/5th graders at Montgomery to alleviate the overcrowding.
It is a travesty and simply astonishing that Montgomery is projected to be 248 students over capacity and Ashford Park is projected at 308 over capacity (the over-capacity enrollments from these two schools alone are the size of the new Dunwoody 4/5 Annex), yet instead of alleviate our own overcrowding issues in the Chamblee cluster, inexplicably we allow the school to be used to alleviate overcrowding in a different cluster which just had a new school built! The ineptitude is astounding and Stan I worry what will happen when your sole voice of reason is gone. Thank you for your service, for fighting tirelessly for your students and families, and for struggling against the utter lunacy that is the Dekalb school board.
Hello @MontgomeryMom, That facility was known as Nancy Creek for a long time and the name is still on the building. Seems like that would be a name the naming committee considers.
When the administration announced that they were moving Kittredge, I thought for sure it would be to provide relief to the entire area. I wrote an article about it …
Nancy Creek Elementary – Immediate Relief For Dunwoody & Chamblee Clusters
http://factchecker.stanjester.com/2020/01/11252/
I lobbied hard to open that school for the entire area. The administration didn’t want to make it an independent k-5 school for a number of reasons. A new elementary school is expected to open 2023 and redistricting in DeKalb is painful, so they wanted to minimize the pain. The condition of the Nancy Creek site is one of the lowest on the FCA reports, so I speculate that after the new school is built … the administration will look at rebuilding the Nancy Creek facility. I’m not sure why DeKalb Schools isn’t using Nancy Creek as a 4th/5th grade academy for MES as well. I think it might have something to do with the community feedback. To make a long story short, the MES community was crystal clear that they didn’t want MES touched until it was fixed. I also believe logistics and space played a role.
I agree with a previous posts about leaving the name the same. Keep it as Nancy Creek Elementary to save funds for needed improvements at the school and teacher pay.
Using the argument that the MES community didn’t want to be touched until things were fixed was only based on the information given to us by Dekalb that in no way could we anticipate a split campus for MES and take advantage of Kittredge in that way for our overcrowding. It is very unfair to make it look like MES somehow asked for this non-solution because no one wanted to be moved. We were told that none of our thoughtful solutions like a split campus at Nancy Creek would even be considered so what other options did we have but to unite in a voice to say come up with a real comprehensive plan verses these sloppy bandaids before you start shuffling kids around. I know you wanted to see it as a solution for both and I respect that, but Dekalb cannot in anyway say they are truly reading feedback and listening to understand concerns from parents if Ramona could think this was a fair and thoughtful solution for the cluster. I appreciate the Dunwoody parents that saw the insanity of this proposal and shared their empathy. My husband and I are heavily considering not sending our daughter back to Dekalb school systems despite moving here for her education because we have so little faith in how MES or AP or any other overcrowded school will be addressed especially given this crisis with Covid. I can’t believe it feels that bad as a parent. And isn’t the bridge between Dunwoody and the Chamblee side supposed to be out for construction of 285 at some point? Have we really looked at logistics here? I am anxiously waiting to see where our kids will fit at MES next year if Nancy Creek is solely used to relieve Dunwoody students. I am hopeful that a real consideration of moving some older groups from MES to Nancy Creek given the Covid developments is on the table for next year. Crisis calls for common sense solutions and re-evaluation. I am very excited that Anna Hill is running and appreciate your support of her.
@AllOurKiddos, I am only speculating as to why Nancy Creek is not going to provide relief to MES or APES in the Fall. Don’t forget, we had 4 rounds of redistricting. Tyson wasn’t superintendent until right before the 4th round.
‘To make a long story short, the MES community was crystal clear that they didn’t want MES touched until it was fixed’. Stan what you said is a complete lie ‘. The MES community and specifically the former Nancy Creek community where I am from advocated hard to take back Nancy Creek (either as an MES split feeder or preferably neighborhood school for the area). I can share specific emails sent by HUNDREDS in our community to all board members to do just that. Our community was told it was not an option to be considered. This idea was then taken from us and used for Dunwoody.
I could care less what they name it. My only vote would be to keep in names Nancy Creek since the name is already on the building- save a little money.
@Amy. Like a previous commentor said, the Chamblee community pushed hard to use Nancy Creek to relieve overcrowding in the area. Superintendent Green and Dan Drake made it clear that there was no way Kittredge was going to move. At that point, the school district started putting out plans that piecemeal-ed some relief for MES and APES. Then, the community came together and said not to touch the cluster until you can fix it. Then Ms Tyson became superintendent and put together a new team that didn’t have the history of Green’s team.
I pushed hard to open Nancy Creek to the Chamblee cluster. I am still shocked that it isn’t. I’m disappointed that Ms Tyson didn’t include me in her decision making process. Out of the blue, Ms Tyson and her team made the decision and came out with this recommendation.
Stan I look forward to your research and answers to the questions regarding shared or disaagregated data. I hope that we start to discuss things as if the board, Superintendent, and parents are working together and considerate of the needs of each stakeholder.
Tameka, Can you refresh my memory about the “questions regarding shared or disaagregated data.”?
Stan- why wasn’t the ‘new’ team made aware of the happenings of the old ‘team’. Seems like this should be something the existing board would make sure to do. Also, I believe you pushed hard for the building to be used for both the Dunwoody and Chamblee clusters. In reality, this is a Chamblee school that was taken away from a Chamblee neighborhood that at no point housed Dunwoody students. This school should have stayed in the Chamblee cluster only. You didn’t advocate for that because you are from Dunwoody and put Dunwoody interest over the rest of the cluster. Have you seen how many trailers AP and MES will have this year!?!? I do appreciate your openness with us and this blog, but that’s how I see it.
@Amy. Thanks for engaging in this conversation. I know a lot of people feel the way you feel.
I don’t know what kind of communication the old team had with the new team. I’m just speculating as to why they made the decisions they made. I didn’t find out until the January board meeting with everyone else that Kittredge was moving. I didn’t find out until January that there was even a new team. I assumed Nancy Creek would provide relief to APES, MES and DES who are all in need of relief. I didn’t know until February that wasn’t the case.
Like Doraville United Elementary school, the new elementary school being built will be shared by multiple clusters.
I’m aware of the overcrowding at MES and APES, which is why I’m incredulous that Nancy Creek isn’t being used to help alleviate overcrowding at those schools.
Stan — I would love to add Like or Love buttons to this forum.. maybe even a WTF —
So many good comments on this blog. I will miss it for sure and your service to an undeserving board as well.
OK. Done. I’ve thought about a “Like” button for comments. I’ve always been concerned that it clutters up everything and would be more annoying than interesting. I’ll give it a shot. Perhaps I can add other buttons once I’m off the board.
I don’t understand why it can’t be what it was. Nancy Creek, so much wasted time and money on this crap. It should be available for the kids that actually live there and are far overcrowded at MES.
Wow, someone copied my actual name? I don’t wish to hide behind a fake name, but whoever suggested adding MES students chose to hide behind my actual name? Bizarre.
As a DES parent, let me be VERY clear that we never once asked for our 4th and 5th graders to be bused across 285. We, just like the Chamblee cluster schools, were begging for overcrowding relief. I’ve loved almost all Ms Tyson has accomplished, but pulling the rug out from under us after having multiple community redistricting meetings and months of “considering community input” to separate our families and leave the Chamblee cluster still overcrowded made no sense to me, either. However, my understanding is that Ms Tyson’s decision was final – at least for the 2020-2021 school year. And, since it is a temporary plan, the name should also be temporary. Later, when the population changes again (hopefully to be a neighborhood school as it absolutely should be), the name will again be addressed. I’m happy to read that the naming committee will be made up of representatives from the community being sent there. The new name should reflect the students attending, and, through no fault of their own, they are Dunwoody Elementary students.
Or Dunwoody could name it Nancy Creek as a peace offering to Chamblee Cluster for stealing their school (even though they didn’t intend to). . Naming it the Dunwoody Upper campus makes the move seem more permanent than keeping the name as Nancy Creek. Though, ultimately I don’t think the name is a huge deal….
Naming it Nancy Creek is also more neutral should they need to mix it and add MES students to the school in the 3 yrs it’s occupied by DES. I wouldn’t have thought this was an option, but with Dekalb you just never know.
By using Nancy Creek to relieve the overcrowding at DES, The administration has successfully driven a political wedge between communities that might need to come together on future issues. DES Upper Campus is a good name if the goal is to drive people further apart.
How about naming it the Dunwoody Elementary School Upper Campus at Nancy Creek?
@curious and DES people. Please consider what DESUC sounds like. Look at the letters. Let that neighborhood have their school name back. It should be Nancy Creek.
Dunwoody Upper Elementary at Nancy Creek? or DES Annex at Nancy Creek? Fixes the suck initials and is a compromise so our DES kids remain DES kids. Administratively, according to Annex meetings held at DES in February and early March, that’s what the annex will be, btw. Same principal over both campuses, teachers still employed by DES, Afterschool program K-5 all at the main campus, etc. We don’t want to be a new separate school; since being announced, it’s been presented as an extension of our current school, not a redistricting.
@Jen Greenwald, The naming committee will take the DES Annex meetings into consideration when we name the school over the next few weeks. The Dunwoody Elementary School Principal’s Advisory Council April Meeting Minutes indicate that they would like the annex to be named Dunwoody Elementary School Upper Campus (DESUC).
Thank you Stan for trying to keep the community in the loop with all the fast action from DCSD. I’m a parent of 5 that all went through MES. We went from having PE 4-5 times a week, Spanish and full time Art & Music to PE 2 X per week, zero language, part time A & M. I have been on almost every board, committee, meeting and fundraiser available with MES & CMS and volunteered at CCHS. In my 13 years, I’ve seen minimal if any improvement on how Dekalb is running their schools as well as spending our tax money. This is why so many families are leaving our public schools and sprinting to private options or homeschooling. This new change to bring Dunwoody families into a school that could help MES and AP with their overcrowding is just one more glaring error. MES is adding another trailer for this fall and has already ordered another for the 2021 school year, but your enrollment chart shows a “0” difference-if I read that correctly. I feel Dekalb is not moving in the right direction, but backwards. What is so difficult to get it right for our teachers & students? I also noticed that schools will be taking a 14% cut while the regional superintendents, coordinators and executive assistants all get a raise…please tell me I have that incorrect. Thank you for your time, effort and patience to try to make Dekalb better.
@Meredyth, If there are any cuts, I imagine all employees will be in the same boat.
Is a name change necessary? I remember when Vanderlyn 4th grade utilized the basement of MES while modulars were being built. They didn’t request their name be added to the school. The children and teachers were together and all survived. Yes, this annex with be utilized be DES, hopefully for a few years until it’s returned to the neighborhood in which it sits. To be clear I remember when a DES parent on this blog called MES “selfish spoiled brats” when asking for a split campus. It would be nice to see DES do the “neighborly” thing and leave then name “Nancy Creek Elementary. “ We know you didn’t ask for this, so work with us. Chamblee is the only cluster in this region who has not received any relief for Elementary schools. FYI, before someone shouts “Doraville United” it’s not in our area, not even close. Show some grace.