Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Georgia Perimeter College is a vital institution in the City of Dunwoody


In 1979 Georgia Perimeter College, formerly DeKalb College, opened its third campus, the Dunwoody Campus. Described by some as being "carved out of the forest," the campus is located on 100 acres on Womack Road in a residential area of northern DeKalb County. By its second year of operation, the campus enrollment had reached capacity at 2,500 students. Groundbreaking for a new classroom and faculty office building occurred in October of 1996.

In April of 1998, a devastating tornado struck the Dunwoody Campus destroying 80 percent of the campus’s trees and damaging all of the buildings on the campus with the exception of the plant operations building. The buildings were repaired and hundreds of new trees, plants and flowers have been planted. One year later the new classroom building was opened, and, at the same time, there was groundbreaking for a new learning resources center. In June 2002, a beautiful 50,000 square foot learning resources center was opened. In the fall of 2003, a physical education building was unveiled and in March of 2007 the astronomy observatory was opened to the public. The newest addition was the Student Services Center opened in June of 2009.

The physical growth of the campus has corresponded to enrollment growth. The Dunwoody Campus now has the largest student enrollment and also boasts the largest percentage of international students.

With its rich suburban environment, the campus provides the perfect setting for partnering with its neighboring community. Residents from homes, schools, businesses and community centers in the area are frequently visitors to campus events. Future programming possibilities and business/corporate partnerships with the external community are numerous and exciting!

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