Rodney Swanson Named Principal of Dunwoody High School

The DeKalb County School System has announced that Mr. Rodney Swanson has been named as the new principal at Dunwoody High School. Mr. Swanson is an 18- year employee of the DCSS. He began his DCSS career at Chapel Hill Elementary School and later moved to Stone Mountain Middle School to teach social studies. He served as an assistant principal at DeKalb School of the Arts for seven years before moving into his most recent position as an assistant principal at Redan High School, where he helped guide that school through its renovation/construction process.

Mr. Swanson is married and has two sons: one a rising sophomore at Druid Hills High School and the other a rising 8th grader at Shamrock Middle School. 

Prior to being named as DHS Principal, Mr. Swanson met with representatives of the DHS School Council, including parents, a representative from the teaching staff and the business community representative, the PTSO president, and the construction liaison representative. After an hour and a half discussion, the group came away impressed with Mr. Swanson's qualifications and commitment to continuing the progress DHS has seen over the past several years. Mr. Swanson will lead the returning administrative leadership team of Assistant Principals Tamra Watts, April Keels, Tom Bass and Tom McFerrin. 

Look for Mr. Swanson in the 4th of July Parade with our Football team and band. Let's give him a warm Wildcat Welcome.

Recent DHS achievements includes:

1. Achieving AYP for the first time since the 2006-07 school year.
2. Increasing the number of students passing all portions of the Georgia High School Graduation Test on the first attempt from 81.94% in 2009 to 83.5% in 2010.
3. Ranking 76 out of 336 high schools (up from 132 in 2009) in GHSGT first time passage rate.
4. A 95% pass rate in English Language Arts (up from 90% in 2009) on the GHSGT.
5. A 97% pass rate in math (highest of all traditional high schools in DeKalb County) on the GHSGT, surpassed only by DeKalb School of the Arts (DSA) and DeKalb Early College Academy (DECA). 
6. A 95% pass rate in science (up from 89% in 2009 and the highest of all traditional high schools in DeKalb County) on the GHSGT, surpassed only by DSA, DECA and Arabia Mountain Magnet School. 
7. An increase in the number of AP courses offered from 17 in 2008 to 20 in 2010.
8. An increase in the number of students taking 3 or more AP classes from 48 in 2008 to 98 in 2009 to 106 in 2010. 
9. The most AP exams ever administered at DHS (666 exams). 
10. The initiation of the Dunwoody Arts Alliance, and presentation of the 2nd Annual Night of the Arts with inclusion of the community and DHS feeder schools. 

We look forward to welcoming Mr. Swanson into the DHS community and to working with him and our returning staff in our continuing quest for excellence.

Respectfully,

The Dunwoody High School Council and PTSO