Inside Rocky top

Construction under way on park path COMMUNITY 2

Orchid angel Gardener saves plants in way of Brook Run trail COMMUNITY 3

Mission man

Dunwoody Reporter www.ReporterNewspapers.net

FEB. 22 — MARCH 7, 2013 • VOL. 4 — NO. 4

PERIMETER BU S

INESS

pages 7-

13

Taking flight like a bird

Sen. Jim Tysinger: ‘A true collaborator’ COMMENTARY 6

Sound-off Wildcats Today

Bringing the news to students at Dunwoody High School! February 6, 2013

In This Issue: Looking For A Job? p. 3

Sports Sound-off p.4-5

Standout Student p. 6

Brook Run Trails p. 7

Want to learn more about how to contribute to WILDCATS TODAY? Check out our information site.

Volume. 1 Issue. 3

Course Schedule, Anyone? By:Amy Minnoch Guest Writer Have you ever wondered why you get some classes on your schedule but not others? Principal Noel Maloof addressed the issue of scheduling at the Wednesday, January 16, 2013 faculty meeting. His goals: To create an easier process. To offer what students need and want. To use DHS’s resources wisely. Scheduling: What You May or May Not Know Students’ current schedules were created based on classes previously offered by DHS. Students selected their top class choices on the course selection forms, due last February 1, 2012. DHS is changing this process. Students’ current schedules are school-driven, based on what DHS administration thinks students want. This year, students will fill out the course request forms with the courses they would like to take next year. Yet courses will not be added to the schedule unless a minimum number of students request the course. Principal Maloof comments, “The new course request forms offer more options for students to choose from than ever before.” DHS administrators will tally all of the requests made by rising DHS students beginning February 8, 2013. College preparatory and elective courses with at least 25 students will be added to the schedule. Advanced Placement (AP) courses with at least 18 students will be added to the schedule. If there are not enough students to fund a course the student’s alternate course requests will be entered into the computer and tallies will be recalculated. Classes with students below minimum requirements are currently not fully funded, causing the school to lose teaching positions and instructional funding. DHS had to make cuts this year. Several teachers were displaced as a result. Mr.Maloof is implementing the new scheduling process so that resources will be available for all courses listed on the schedule. Students who want a class not offered on the course request form should talk with Principal Maloof or their counselor. To be funded, the course must be approved by the State of Georgia. Each

Photo by Erin Pirkle

Junior Alhaji Mbowe sits with his counselor Lisa Gordon to discuss his schedule options for next year.

GeorGia’s Career Pathway Clusters

1. Agriculture 2. Architecture, Construction, Communications, and Transportation 3. Business and Computer Science 4. Culinary Arts 5. Education

6. Engineering and Technology 7. Family and Consumer Sciences 8. Government and Public Safety 9. Healthcare Science 10. Marketing, Sales, and Service

“Each Program Concentration has Career Pathways that have been developed for students to select and complete. Career Pathways have three or four specialized courses developed to provide students rigorous core elements, performance standards, and skills necessary after high school graduation to go straight into the workforce or choose college/university, or the military for additional training.” - Georgia Department of Education approved course has a course number and description. Rising juniors and seniors will have more flexibility in their course selections with this process. They may not have enough time to complete required course work and earn complete credit for a Pathway without this change. What is a Pathway? DHS students received new course selection forms requiring them to choose

a “Pathway” before Winter break. Career pathways have been required by Georgia law since Fall 2008. Texas and New York already offer Pathways. “Pathway” is a term for opportunities already offered at DHS, from taking four consecutive, upper-level classes in a content area like World Languages or entering a Career Academy. Students who have taken drama and chorus for the past two years, for example, are in the Fine Arts Pathway. Those stuCourse Changes Continued on page 3

DHS athletes speak out in school newspaper EDUCATION 19

Heads up Nonviolent crime up, police chef says PUBLIC SAFETY 21 PHIL MOSIER

Tilden Ellis, 4, left, and his friend Grayson Richmond, 3, take a break from bird watching at the Dunwoody Nature Center on Feb. 16. The two were participating in the annual nationwide Great Backyard Bird Count program at the center, where adults and children had lessons on species identification and observation.

School board’s actions frustrate, anger parents

BY JOE EARLE

BY JOE EARLE AND MELISSA WEINMAN

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Davis: ‘It’s time for us to act’ joeearle@reporternewspapers.net

Frustrated North DeKalb parents say they are losing confidence in the ability of county school officials to deal with the possible loss of the system’s accreditation. “Parents are frustrated and discouraged and we’re angry,” said Sarah Smith, co-president of the Dunwoody-Chamblee Parents Council. “We’re starting to lose hope.” Amy LeVasseur, co-president of the Dunwoody Elementary PTO, called the school system a “top concern” among parents. “Parents want answers and I think they deserve to get answers from the people who are running their schools,” she said.

Dunwoody’s first years as a city were a time for planning, Mayor Mike Davis said, and, in 2013, “our goal is to turn … our vision into reality.” “It’s time for us to act,” the mayor said during his 2013 State of the City address on Feb. 19. He outlined large and small projects planned for the city, including new designs for troubled road intersections, upgrading amenities in city parks, the Dunwoody Village Parkway project and the redevelopment in the Georgetown area of the city.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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