How State Decisions Will Affect Your School in DeKalb

Dunwoody Chamblee Parent Council & Emory Lavista Parent Council
invite you to attend
“How State Decisions Will Affect Your School”

October 3, 2007
6:30 until 8:30 PM

Kittredge Magnet School
2383 North Druid Hills Road
Parking available in lot behind the school

• Irene Munn representing Lt Governor Cagle - Schools of Choice and Charter Schools in Georgia
  
• Dan Weber, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Youth - Up-coming Education Legislation
• Brad Bryant, GA DOE Board member, President of the National Association of State Boards of Education – No Child Left Behind ~ Question and Answers to follow presentations
  

We encourage all parents and DeKalb residents to attend this informative and up-to-the-minute discussion of state changes in education

Chesnut gets a playground, KaBoom organizes project

Chesnut gets a playground, KaBoom organizes project

By Andrew B. Adler for the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/20/07


While attending a DeKalb County school board meeting last year, Renate Herod first learned about the existence of an organization called KaBoom. Herod, who was Chesnut Charter Elementary School's PTA president at the time, made a beeline to her computer after returning home to garner more information about the national nonprofit organization. An organization founded in 1995, KaBoom builds playgrounds, ice rinks, skate parks and sports fields throughout the nation.

"Once I learned more about KaBoom, I immediately submitted a very detailed application in hopes that we would [be] chosen by KaBoom to build a new playground at our school." But as time passed and other schools were being selected by KaBoom representatives, Herod began to think her efforts had become a lost cause. That was until she received a phone call from a representative this summer from the Washington-based organization while on her way to Oklahoma for a well-deserved vacation. "It was very exciting to know that Chesnut Charter School had finally been selected by KaBoom," Herod said.

Starting early today, more than 100 volunteers from Chesnut Charter Elementary School, 150 volunteers from Home Depot, and organizers from KaBoom are scheduled to build a new 2,500-square-foot playground. The one-day project is made possible through a $47,200 grant from Home Depot, along with a $10,000 contribution from Chestnut Charter Elementary School.

The $47,200 grant is part of Home Depot's $25 million commitment to KaBoom to create and refurbish 1,000 play areas in 1,000 days. "By the end of 2007, we will have reached our goal of 1,000 play areas," said Caroline Counihan, Home Depot's community affairs manager. The ultimate design of Chesnut Charter Elementary School's playground, like others, will be the brainchild of the students themselves. A special "Design Day" was recently held by KaBoom in which students drew their dream playground. Components of each child's drawings are incorporated into the playground's final design.

Chesnut Charter Elementary School is located at 4576 N. Peachtree Road, Dunwoody. The DeKalb County school, with about 550 students currently enrolled in k-5, was established in 1968. During the 2000-2001 school year, Chesnut began operating as a charter school. Information: 678-676-7100. http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/chesnut/.

KaBoom's Web site is www.kaboom.org.

Did the DeKalb Police just cut Dunwoody's patrols in half?

Original Precincts

New Police Precincts
Effective 07/16/2007

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/images/New_Precinct_Boundaries_Text_Maps.pdf

A few weeks ago I signed up for DeKalb County's Neighborhood Watch mailing list and I have been getting their informational messages ever since. Today I received a notice that there is a major restructuring of the police precincts whereby it appears that Dunwoody went from six precincts to now just three. I have attached a link to the notice above. There was no explanation on why the change took place or if it is beneficial to the residents, it was just the facts as cold as Joe Friday could deliver them. I went searching through the previous messages and noticed that I also received an invitation to Meet the Chief at the Perimeter Mall parking lot on Saturday, October 27th at 10:00 a.m. Hopefully I won't have to wait that long to learn about how this change will affect our police coverage.

The Dunwoody North Civic Association, Neighborhood Watch Coordinator will look into this and will report back any and all findings.

Hopefully I won't have to wait until October to ask Chief Bolton how this change improves the services provided by the County.

Mugshots of DeKalb County Jail Admissions

You can now see the pictures of people admitted to the DeKalb County Jail by going to http://www.scandekalb.com/mugshots

When the page first loads you'll see the pictures of everyone admitted the day before, you can limit the photos displayed to only the people living in a specific city by selecting a city from the chooser in the upper-right corner of the page.

Click on the pictures to see a larger photo and the person's name, address, and charges.

There is even an e-mail notification service whereby if anyone in your zip code is booked, you will supposedly receive a message notifying you of the event. Scary!
http://www.scandekalb.com/modules.php?name=CommunityWatch

Will 30 Acres of "Site Restoration" at Brook Run be usable space?

DeKalb County currently has about 30 acres of Brook Run Park closed due to the demolition of five buildings and once the buildings are gone the contractor is to do "site restoration" in order to return the property to natural green space. The documents received from an open records request made by the Dunwoody North Civic Association shows that the county has also contracted to remove roadways & parking areas in the back of the park (item 6 on page7); but the documents are confusing as to which specific roadways & parking areas are going to be removed. The definition of site restoration seems to state that the open fields created by the removal of the 5 buildings may not be flat for general passive, recreational use. With park space being so limited shouldn't the "site restoration" of 30 acres of valuable park land include a little more planning and direction then what is currently being given by the County? Do all the roads & parking surfaces serving the back area of the park need to be removed?

Last week I made calls into the County regarding these two concerns and due to the fact that I am currently out of town on business, I have been unable to get back in touch with County officials in order to get this detailed information. Because of this, I have typed this entry specifically for the County and attached a link to an abbreviated portion of the demolition contract which highlights my specific concerns.

Maybe I’m just misinterpreting these documents and the County has already planned useable general purpose fields with adequate roadways to access the back of the park? Hopefully the County will reply and alleviate my concerns. If I receive any information on this subject I will post the reply and any corresponding documentation provided to this site.

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/images/Brook_Run_Demo_Site_Restoration.pdf

Neighborhood Bible Study for Women

WHAT: Beth Moore Bible Study
WHO: Women of Dunwoody North
WHEN: Tues. or Weds. nights at 7:00pm, beginning Oct. 2007
WHERE: To be determined
WHY: To learn, make friends, and have fun!
CONTACT: Mandy Etheredge at aseinga@yahoo.com or 404-731-0185

Chesnut is building a new playground and needs your help.

On Thursday, September 20th a new playground is coming to Chesnut Charter Elementary and volunteers are needed from the community to assist in the construction.

Kaboom is a national non-profit organization that was created in 1995 to bring together volunteers, community organizations and business resources to facilitate safe, healthy and much needed play spaces across North America. Working with their funding & build partner Home Depot, Chesnut volunteers are going to build a new playground in ONE day!

Here's what has been happening with KABOOM! so far...
In July 2007, KABOOM! reps contacted Chesnut PTA Leadership
In August, the design team developed three designs which were then refined to come up Chesnut's next Great playground.
September 20th is BUILD DAY.

Home Depot will be bringing 150 volunteers. Kaboom! provides experienced builders.
Chesnut needs to provide 100 people to make the playground a reality.

No special skills are required. Please think about joining the fun starting at 8 am.

When you volunteer, on build day you get: Free Breakfast, Work Gloves, a commemorative t-shirt, Water/water/water, Lunch, Music playing all day, First Aid available if needed, Raffle Drawings for prizes, Fun/fun/fun and a great deal of satisfaction.

Please let the school know if you are available at Chesnutcharter@yahoo.com

A special thank you goes out to KABOOM!, Home Depot & Outback Steakhouse

Dunwoody Chamblee Parents Council Meeting - Sept 5

The Dunwoody Chamblee Parents Council (DCPC) will be meeting tomorrow Wednesday September 5th, 9:00 am at Dunwoody High School with Dr. Lewis as the keynote speaker. The DCPC brings parents, school board members, school officials, and legislators together to discuss topics that affect public schools in our community. Possible subjects that may be discussed are the New Dunwoody elementary school, redistricting, SACS accreditation, AYP progress as well as other important subjects.

The DCPC serves these Dunwoody/Chamblee Area Clusters:
Dunwoody High School - Peachtree Charter Middle School - Austin - Chesnut Charter - Hightower - Kingsley Charter - Vanderlyn ES. Chamblee Charter High School - Chamblee Middle School - Ashford Park - Huntley Hills - Kittredge Magnet - Montgomery - Nancy Creek Theme ES.

The DCPC meets monthly on the first Wednesday of the month, starting with refreshments at 8:45 am. The meeting starts at 9:15 am. and ends by 10:30 A.M. The meeting calendar for the 2007/2008 school year is:

Sept.5, 2007 - Dunwoody High School with Dr. Lewis as speaker

Dunwoody High School does Bohemian Rhapsody

Hey I'm a sucker for good Dunwoody content and since this cracked me up & gave me a giggle; I've posted it.