Dear Decatur High School Community,

We have made it through the first full week at Decatur High School in 2023. Happy New Year! We appreciate our students' efforts to be present and engaged in the learning process. I would like to give a shout out to our faculty and staff that consistently supports students and each other for the betterment of our school.

Please take time to participate in some kind of service to the community over the extended weekend. I am looking forward to working with the MLK Service Project and our Close Up Club to help improve the lives of those in the Decatur community on Sunday afternoon. Please note the information related to 2023 Prom that is listed below.

Sincerely,

Duane Sprull

Interim Principal

The 2022-2023 Georgia Parent Survey is now open. Survey participation is voluntary, but we strongly encourage participation in the surveys to provide schools with critically important data to help guide prevention and intervention strategies. This also impacts your school's CCRPI score. It is recommended that your school has at least a 75% participation rate. The survey will remain open through Friday, January 27, 2023.

Georgia Parent Survey

https://gshs.gadoe.org/parents

Dear Parents,

We will administer the Tripod Survey right after Winter Break. The Tripod student surveys gather data from students about themselves, their classrooms, and their schools. Classroom-level measures offer insight into teaching effectiveness, peer dynamics, student engagement, and the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) culture. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. You can review the Tripod Survey questions and the Tripod DEI questions at the links provided. All student survey data is anonymous and self-reported. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) gives you the right to opt your child out of participating in the survey. The survey will be given to all students. If you do NOT wish for your child to participate in the Tripod Survey, please complete this google form by February 3rd to opt out.

As of January 4th, Ms. Susko no longer works at DHS. We appreciate her contributions to our school. We are seeking a counselor for the rest of this year, but until such time as a new counselor comes aboard we have a plan to ensure that all student needs continue to be addressed.

Please see the information below for who you should contact instead of Ms. Susko.

If you are a 9th grade student who was on Ms. Susko's caseload, your temporary counselor will be Dr. Jones (kjones@csdecatur.net).

If you are a 10th grade student who was on Ms. Susko's caseload, your temporary counselor will be Mrs. Wills (kwills@csdecatur.net).

If you are a 11th grade student who was on Ms. Susko's caseload, your temporary counselor will be Dr. Morgan (atmorgan@csdecatur.net).

If you are a 12th grade student who was on Ms. Susko's caseload, your temporary counselor will be Dr. Jackson (kjackson@csdecatur.net).

ATTENTION JUNIORS AND SENIORS!!!

It's time to take flight around the world. Prom 2023 will be at the Delta Flight Museum on May 20th.

In order to receive a boarding ticket you will need to make sure that you purchase Package A Dues before March 31st at 4:00pm.

You can view the cost of Package A Dues here: https://www.csdecatur.net/Page/1425. Please be sure to choose junior or senior class.

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND PROM IF PACKAGE A DUES ARE NOT PAID IN FULL ON OR BEFORE MARCH 31ST BY 4:00PM. NO EXCEPTIONS!

You can view the cost of Package A Dues here: https://www.csdecatur.net/Page/1425. Please be sure to choose junior or senior class.

All dues are located in Infinite Campus for online payments. If you would like to pay by check, money order or cash:

Juniors see Ms. Jones in Room 2128

Seniors see Ms. Wells in Room 1516

ATTENTION: All Spring Sport Athletes!

All students interested in participating in a Spring sport must have an updated medical profile in our DragonFly system. Please visit the link HERE for instructions on how to create or update your profile. Do not wait until tryouts begin to start this process! Contact your coach with any questions.

DHS Tennis Tryout Information

The Decatur High School tennis tryouts will be on January 17th and 19th for boys and January 18th and 20th for girls from 4 pm to 6 pm at Glenlake Tennis Center. The tryouts are for 8th grade through 12th grade students. Please make sure that you have your tennis racquet and shoes, a water bottle, and are dressed for the weather.

Contact Coach Messer (dmesser@csdecatur.net) with any questions.

On Friday, February 3, 2023, from 6:00 to 8:30 PM, the GPB and Decatur High School Library program partnership, ASALH, and AAHGS will host a “Community Celebration of Black Joy” at DHS. Events will include a panel discussion centered around clips from the series “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine'', spoken word performances, a student-curated gallery walk, a genealogy exhibit, and more facilitated by the DHS Black Student Union.

Click here to register for this event.

Winter Break Intersession will be February 13-15, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. Students will be invited from their school by January 6, 2023. See flyer below for more information.

Don’t cook, dine out for DEF next Thursday, January 19th! Just click here to place your order in advance: https://naanstop-decatur.square.site/. Order by 8:00 pm on Wednesday, January 18th and pick up between 5:00 pm and 5:45 pm on Thursday, January 19th. Pick-up at Avery/Bucher in Winnona Park. 20% of proceeds will be donated to DEF, thanks to Naan Stop and Greg Kodesh Realty.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Lighten the Load snack and weekend backpack program for January! There are just a few items left for the weekend backpack program for those families in need of supplemental food. Here’s the link: https://a.co/6Etc74W Check back at the beginning of each month when the lists are updated.

You can also help DEF by volunteering your time as a Virtual Pal Tutor for a 2nd-8th grade CSD student. Click here to sign up: https://forms.gle/SnUp5TNx3JZRTNja7

Two more dates to put on your calendar: Saturday, February 4th is the Mead Rd Mardi Gras Parade. Info for participating as a community krewe is available at www.meadrdmardigras.org. And Saturday, March 11th is the Tour deCatur 5K and one-mile Fun Run. Registration will begin in the coming weeks, stay tuned.