Category Archives: DeKalb County School District

All DeKalb Class of 2017 Graduation Ceremonies At Georgia World Congress Center

Posted on October 11, 2016 by | 8 comments

All DeKalb County high school graduations will be held during the week of May 22-27, 2017

DeKalb Superintendent Stephen Green
Dr. Stephen Green
DeKalb County
Superintendent

Report submitted by Dr. Vasanne Tinsley at the request of Dr. Stephen Green.
Graduation ceremonies are a major component of the closing of each school year. In recent years, schools have used governmental buildings, arenas and even churches to hold events. During the 2015-16 school year. However, the district was challenged by the AFL-CIO on the holding of school district graduation ceremonies in religious facilities. While measures were taken to comply with the request to not house ceremonies in religious venues (and some locations were changed), it was agreed that the district would work to address the concern for the 2016-17 school year.
During the summer of 2016, Dr. Green created a District Graduation Task Force to begin looking at venues, available dates and costs for specific locations to house district ceremonies. Based on a cost and accessibility comparison, the committee determined that the best option would be the Georgia World Congress Center. It has been decided that all high school graduations will be held during the week of May 22-27, 2017 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

DeKalb County School District Graduation Schedule
Georgia World Congress Center
2016-17 School Year

Date School Time
Monday, May 22, 2017 McNair High School 10:00 AM
Towers High School 1:00 PM
Columbia High School 4:00 PM
Cedar Grove High School 7:00 PM
Tuesday, May 23, 2017 Redan High School 10:00 AM
Lithonia High School 1:00 PM
DeKalb School of the Arts 4:00 PM
Wednesday, May 24, 2017 Elizabeth Andrews High School 10:00 AM
Stephenson High School 1:00 PM
DeKalb Early College Academy 4:00 PM
Stone Mountain High School 7:00 PM
Thursday, May 25, 2017 Miller Grove High School 10:00 AM
Destiny Academy 1:00 PM
Chamblee Charter High School 4:00 PM
Dunwoody High School 7:00 PM
Friday, May 26, 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. High School 10:00 AM
Arabia Mountain High School 1:00 PM
Southwest DeKalb High School 4:00 PM
Druid Hills High School 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 27, 2017 Tucker High School 10:00 AM
Lakeside High School 1:00 PM
STADIUM/SCHOOLS & LOCAL SCHOOL
Wednesday, May 24, 2017 Clarkston High School @ Hallford Stadium 5:30 PM
Thursday, May 25, 2017 Cross Keys High School @Adams Stadium 7:30 PM
Friday, May 19, 2017 Margret Harris High School @ MHHS 10:00 AM

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Posted in DeKalb County School District

How to Qualify for Gifted Services

Posted on September 5, 2016 by | 7 comments

Last month DeKalb students started taking MAP assessments.

As discussed in DeKalb’s New Assessment Tests the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments will replace the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), components of the the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), Renaissance’s STAR Early Literacy, STAR Reading and STAR Math.
Lisa Martin is DeKalb Schools’ new Chief Academic and Accountability Officer.  Knox Phillips is the Director of Research, Assessments, and Grants at the DeKalb County School District. Lisa Martin and Knox Phillps help us understand “How to Qualify for Gifted Services”.
How to Qualify for Gifted Services

Lisa Martin

Will NWEA MAP be used to qualify students as gifted?
Dr. Lisa Martin: The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) will utilize the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) as the initial assessment towards gifted identification beginning with the 2016-2017 school year for students in grades K-10. Students who score > 90% RT (Reading Total) or > 90% MT (Math To-tal) on the nationally norm-referenced assessment (MAP) will take additional gifted formal evaluations.
Can we get NWEA MAP and Qualifying for Gifted Services into the new website?
Dr. Lisa Martin: The communication plan includes publishing the information on the District’s website, sharing the gifted eligibility process via Outlook 365 with school leaders and teachers, and sending information to parents/guardians through local schools.

Knox Phillips

Dr. Lisa Martin mentioned MAP is the initial assessment towards gifted identification. What is the rest of process and timeline for gifted identification?
Knox Phillips: The process and timeline is included both in the [below] flowchart as well the [timeline below]. The Renzulli Tool will be used by teachers to assess both creativity and motivation.
Does MAP evaluate cognitive abilities?
Knox Phillips: MAP does not evaluate cognitive abilities. Students who meet the criteria via MAP assessments for norm-reference performance will be indi-vidually assessed for cognitive abilities via the CogAT assessment with parent contact and consent – CogAT and Renzulli are components of the Gifted Formal Assessments illustrated in the flow chart.
Timeline
Map assessments will end on Sept 13, 2016. After K-10 students complete the MAP assessment, local schools will analyze the data to identify students who are eligible for further evaluation. Each student’s MAP Score Report, applicable notification letter, and supporting documents will be sent to parents/guardians on or around these dates
• Sept 19 – 23, 2016: Identify students who are eligible for further evaluation by scoring > 90% RT (Reading Total) and/or > 90% MT (Math Total)
• Sept 19 – 23, 2016: Identify students who are eligible for gifted services
• Sept 26 – 30, 2016: Send MAP Score Report, appropriate notification letter, and supporting documents to parent/guardians
MAP-Gifted Referral and Eligibility Process Chart

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Posted in DeKalb County School District, Standardized Testing