LAST WEEK: SHOULD CITY SCHOOLS DECATUR CONSIDER RE-STRUCTURING ITS SYSTEM?
This marks the 13th year City Schools Decatur has operated under the K-3 elementary format with one 4/5 Academy as a transition to middle school. For 30-plus years prior to 2004, Decatur elementary schools had been either K-5 or K-6.
Superintendent David Dude hasn’t even hinted he’s thinking about any change. Nevertheless, shifting to the present format was so controversial that even today debate and passion still swirl around the subject.
Plus, in June CSD purchased a six-acre tract at the corner of Talley Street and South Columbia Drive. That was the school system’s largest land purchase since the late 1960s. The school system is assessing what should be built on that land. Many wonder if doing away with the 4/5 Academy is a viable option.
Here are some reader responses:
No because [the 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue is] very helpful for them to get ready for middle school, where my son now attends. — Lisa Fisher Oliver
Coming from a state that has k-2 and 3-5 schools, and as a teacher, I can tell you the benefits far outweigh the "inconvenience" of having kids in multiple schools. — Erika Martinez Nutter
Socially I think it's a great idea. — Carol Sleeth
From a sustainability perspective the current model is a disaster. We have an absolutely obscene number of school buses rolling around in a town of four square miles. In my opinion the academic benefits need to be significant to outweigh this downside. — Don Rigger
I agree Renfroe was a very ugly school for my daughter! So much so we moved out of Decatur to not risk her at DHS. — Kim Pennington
Think it's time for an analysis. Do kids do well because [of] or in spite of the model? Do people come because of or in spite of the model? Will it work if we have two 4/5s or does that undermine the whole premise? What are the trade-offs? Does the approach make sense if you have a school of 1,200? — Margaret Master
Our child had a great experience at [the 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue], but I do give that credit to the teachers she had rather than the 4/5 school idea. With how many trailers Renfroe is using, why not turn Fifth Avenue into a middle school and go back to the K-5 system? — Daniel Williams
The payoff for the 4/5 Academy is when the kids get to Renfroe. Go visit any other public middle school and compare the climate and student attitude. Blending the students before they hit the rough spot of early adolescence means no social transition and pecking order issues in middle school. Huge difference. — Jeff Guthrie
Unfortunately the 4/5 school has doubled in size since our kids were there. It is a beast now. It was one of the biggest factors deciding to homeschool my child. I could get behind a second 4/5. This would serve the purpose of kids getting to know a larger group of kids earlier but in a smaller environment. — Lori Jackson
We vote with our feet. The fact that enrollment has doubled in the time since the 4-5 experience started tells you something. It's clearly been a success in that regard. My daughter is a sophomore at DHS and attended 4/5 Academy at Glenwood her fourth grade year, then moved to Fifth Avenue when she was in the fifth grade. So she went to a different school four years in a row. Negative impacts on her? Not a single thing as far as I can tell. This decision should not be emotional and shouldn't be made by bitter citizens with isolated impacts. (I'm not denying that some families were negativity impacted). This should be a decision made based on a decade's worth of facts that are focused on student outcomes and the overall health of the system, rather than parent agendas. — Geoff Koski
I don't think you'll find any academic improvements since [the current system was adopted]. And that enrollment increase was already in progress, which so many Decatur parents smarter than me tried telling the school board while they continued spouting the "declining enrollment" nonsense, leading to this decision in the first place. Plenty of other folks "voted with their feet" in the other direction. Lots of Decatur kids are at private schools. These are kids whose parents — PTA presidents and room parents — were committed to the public schools, who decided they'd HAD ENOUGH. We stuck it out but I wonder sometimes if that was the right decision. The bottom line is that I think the 4/5 Academy was a failed experiment. I hated putting my kid on a bus instead of walking her to the school down the street. I hated that poorly designed, unsafe building. Of course, changing the configuration of the schools won't change the building. That will have to be a fight Fifth Avenue parents take on. — Martha Billian Meyer
— Bill Banks for the AJC
Creekside Forest Apartment Homes, just off Interstate 20, is blight on DeKalb County. With garbage strewn about, a rental office that’s been closed, squatters making it home and no longer receiving mail delivery, it’s a haven for violence and vandalism. After complaints from a county commissioner and media coverage this week, changes could be underway for this complex, but it’s just one example of a problem throughout South DeKalb.
The owner, who was cited for code violations in July, has agreed to turn the battered, vacant leasing office over to officials to use as a service center to assist residents in finding new housing. And police recently were on hand with armed security guards who said they were tossing squatters.
But what about other properties plagued by crime and ramshackle apartments with often absentee landlords?
County officials have said they want to move forward with development and attract new businesses. These types of structures clearly would put a damper on that.
The county has partnered with Decatur Cooperative Ministries and a local housing authority to help residents and even some squatters at that property. But a larger plan hasn’t been revealed. What do you think the county should do? Send comments to communitynews@ajc.com.
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