News … Past News … June 2005

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Dunwoody
By Ken Wright, President, Dunwoody Homeowners Association, Inc.

Some remember Dunwoody’s population boom in the early 1970’s. Our neighborhoods were in high demand by families seeking a quality home, a safe community, and excellent schools. Sound familiar?

The same thing is happening today, only there are a lot more homes – and three fewer public schools! The result: trailers must be placed on school grounds as student population outstrips available permanent classrooms.

In the past few years, academic achievement, course offerings and parental participation have soared in our neighborhood schools. School personnel are deserving of our thanks; but so too are the hundreds of parents and community members who invest countless volunteer hours daily enriching the educational experience for each of our children.

There are four elementary schools -- Austin, Chesnut, Hightower, Kingsley and Vanderlyn -- that ultimately feed into Peachtree Charter Middle School. They exemplify what is happening on the educational side of our community. They boast recognition for a Georgia School of Excellence, a U.S. National Blue Ribbon School, two International Baccalaureate programs, a U.S. Department of Education Award (recognizing safe and drug free schools), two exemplary Charter schools, and exceptional PTA membership in each facility.

Peachtree Charter Middle School has boasting rights of its own. As a charter school, Peachtree has enjoyed skyrocketing test scores and a recommitment of community support. This year Peachtree was selected as one of only twenty Georgia Schools of Excellence in math and language arts.

Peachtree is the only feeder to Dunwoody High School– a Newsweek Magazine recognized as one of the top high schools in the nation. Dunwoody High recently received additional kudos from Atlanta Magazine which touted the school’s top performance.

The success stories of the DeKalb County schools are echoed in the other schools in our community. On Dunwoody’s Fulton County side, Woodland Elementary and Dunwoody Springs Elementary Schools are shining examples of how school communities with Charter school status can customize their programs to more closely address the educational needs of their student populations. Graduates from these two fine schools move to Sandy Springs Middle School, a twice-recognized Georgia School of Excellence, and then to North Springs High School, acclaimed nationally by both U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek Magazine for outstanding success.

Although county names may change, a single commonality is shared among all of Dunwoody’s successful public schools: Dunwoody parents demand the highest level of education for their children, and they are willing to invest the personal time necessary to make that a reality. It is no wonder that people are flocking here once again!

The Dunwoody Homeowners Association (DHA) believes that every child has the right to a seat in a permanent classroom in their neighborhood school. We have heard your cries and have taken an active stance to call for districting new development in the Perimeter Mall area to under-populated school clusters. We continue our long running battle with zoning laws in an effort to gain control of over-development in our community that is negatively impacting the school experience for our children. The DHA will strive to keep Dunwoody a safe and attractive place to live; and for those desiring, we want it to continue as a wonderful community to raise a family.