Douglas County Georgia Schools

The Douglas County Education Foundation will open its online scholarship application on March 10 for Douglas County School System graduating seniors. The online portal will remain open through March 26. Click on the link for more information about the community-sponsored scholarships that are available. https://dcef.dcssga.org/scholarships/available_scholarships

Reaching and Teaching during COVID-19 The Board of Education and Superintendent Trent North continue to be proud of the outstanding way our teachers and staff have responded to the challenges of teaching during the time of COVID-19. The Reaching and Teaching during COVID-19 video highlights three teachers who have embraced the challenges and even added to their teaching toolbox with new and innovative techniques they will use beyond the current crisis.... We commend all of our educators who continue to persevere and provide a quality learning experience for our students every day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Wt6cEgL9U

Faith Guger is an International Baccalaureate senior at Douglas County High School where she serves as JROTC Battalion Commander and competes on the Rifle team as well as the Raider team. She is also part of the school's inaugural girl's flag football team. Faith is a dedicated school and community volunteer and enjoys serving as a Spanish language translator at her church and volunteering at the Georgia Tech Language Institute. She plans to study for a dual language degree, possibly in Spanish and Farsi. She has received an appointment to the United States Military Academy - West Point and has been accepted to Georgia Tech and the University of North Georgia. Faith is an exceptional student with an exciting future!

Congratulations to the Chapel Hill Boys for their historic season and their advancement to the Final Four in the state basketball playoffs. It was an amazing season. They came up short tonight against Eagle’s Landing. Final Eagles Landing 92 Chapel Hill 49

Look who is on the University of West Georgia website? Twenty-one students from Douglas and Carroll Counties competed in the West GA Regional Science & Engineering Fair. Douglas County students walked away with the top honors. Rebecca Scarbrough, an 11th-grader at Lithia Springs High School, earned Best in Show for the senior division. Camille Scott, a seventh-grader at Chapel Hill Middle School, won Best in Show for the junior division. https://www.westga.edu///virtual-regional-science-fair.php

Partners in Education is pleased to welcome two business leaders to its volunteer governing board, Chris Rentz and Andrew Jordan. Rentz is an associate broker w...ith Pioneer Residential | Pioneer Land Group, and Jordan is a partner and CPA at Connally, Jordan & Associates, P.C. CPA. Both men have been active in PIE and the local community for many years. Last year, Jordan was named a PIE Partner of Excellence award winner for high schools for all he does for the College & Career Institute. Welcome, Rentz and Jordan, and thank you for helping make our schools better. Click on each picture to read why these leaders are willing to volunteer their time on the PIE board. See more

Thank you to our school resource officers and all other law enforcement officers who help keep students and staff safe every day. We salute you on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, -- and every day. Pictured are some of the wonderful SRO's in the Douglas County School System.

TMS 6th Graders Tackle Computer Programming Challenges with Success Computer science, a necessary skill set in today’s digital age, is an important component of K-12 curriculum in the Douglas County School System. Turner Middle School (TMS) is doing its part to provide computer science (CS) for all students. CS teacher Amber Jones usually teaches web and app design to 7th graders, but this year, her 6th graders became the youngest students at TMS to write webpages using HTML.... Foundations of Interactive Design is a two-part class that consists of learning HTML, and for the more advanced students, learning style sheets. The second part of the class is app design using JavaScript. I was more than proud of how the 6th graders did, said Ms. Jones. Ms. Jones explains that coding and web design are often thought of as individual pursuits, but she makes sure her students collaborate, even if it is digitally. The students had to work together and be active and share their screens, said Ms. Jones. When coding, you have to write long instructions for the computer. One typo or one missed punctuation mark can mess up an entire webpage. By working together, they helped each other spot and correct coding problems. Students Tiffany Campbell and Ahmad Outlaw both chose to attend after school tutoring just to learn more. Tiffany made a webpage about her favorite video game. I liked learning the marquee tag, said Tiffany. I liked making the words move and seeing them go on and on. Ms. Jones says her webpage has great organization, movement, and includes responsible crediting of images. Ahmad used his webpage project to build a business page to support his mother's baking business, HJO Cakes. I learned a lot of stuff, like different types of tags, said Ahmad. I enjoyed Ms. Jones’s web design class because I had the freedom to use my imagination to help launch my mom’s business. I believe in my mom, and I felt happy to be able to help. Ahmad added original pictures to his website that he took of his mother’s cakes and learned HTML beyond many of his classmates to make the page appealing. My 6th graders started the year new to middle school, new to digital learning from home, and new to coding, said Ms. Jones, but they rose to all the challenges presented to them. I couldn’t be prouder.

It's Time for Hoops! Spotlight on Douglas County High School From DCSS Girls Head Coach Chet Forsh: The 2020-2021 basketball season will be like nothing we have ever seen. The pandemic changed the way we were able to communicate with potential players and parents. This has been especially difficult with any new players to our program. Also, due to these circumstances, our numbers are low. We are bringing back two full-time and one part-time starter from a surprising Elite Eig...ht team from last season. In addition, we have a very new and revamped region. At this point, it is difficult to predict with any certainty how we might do. We hope to be able to find a way to get back to the state playoffs. For a schedule for basketball and all winter sports for middle and high schools, please click on the link. https://www.dcssga.org/cms/one.aspx

ATTENTION 8th GRADERS AND PARENTS: Monday, December 14, is the deadline for 8th grade students to apply for the magnet programs at all five high schools for the 2021-2022 school year. Click for a link to the application and additional information. https://www.dcssga.org//what_s/magnet_application_deadline

"Shop with a Cop" Brightens the Holidays Sixty deserving elementary and middle school students were ready with their Christmas lists and picked up lots of toys and clothes at Shop with a Cop on December 15. Spearheaded by the DCSS Police Department, the joyful event was a collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, including the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, the Douglasville Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol. The program was funded entirely by donations... from local businesses, organizations and individuals. "Shop with a Cop shows the great things that can happen when the community pulls together to care for our children," said Officer Taylor Neufeld with the DCSS Police Department. "We were overwhelmed with the financial support we received from the Douglas County community. Thank you to everyone who made this event a huge success."

Attention parents: here's an opportunity for COVID-cautious child care this Friday from Boundary Waters Aquatic Center.

This lovely playhouse built by students at CHHS will be raffled off on Friday! Go to the link at the end of this post to purchase a ticket. To learn more about the project, read on! Connie Highnote's architectural and engineering drawing students took a break from their CAD software to get hands-on building experience over the last year.... Through a partnership with the Home Builders Association of Douglas County, the students spent many Saturdays building a playhouse that will be raffled off on December 11. Proceeds will support student activities for SkillsUSA, an organization of students, teachers and industry that work together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. Through the project, students learned the design process, how to take field measurements, how to frame a building and more. Ms. Highnote, who has a master's degree in instructional technology, worked in the construction and design industry for 10 years. She is in her 20th year at Chapel Hill High School teaching courses in the Architectural Drafting and Engineering Design pathways. Both pathways are industry certified. "The best way for students to learn is through hands-on projects," said Ms. Highnote. "They love seeing the results of their work and I enjoy watching them learn." Several of Ms. Highnote's students have taken the skills they learned in her class to the next level. One example is Michael Awalt, who completed the Architectural Drawing pathway at CHHS. He majored in architecture at Rice University in Texas and now works for Selldorf Architects in New York City. To purchase a chance to win the playhouse, go to the link below. You will need to sign in or create an account. On the donations payment page, please include the $20 ticket amount, your first and last name and a contact number. The playhouse is sure to make the perfect Christmas gift for some lucky child! https://chapelhillhs.revtrak.net/student-fees#/v/Donation-27

What a fun project for our students! Vote on your favorite rain barrel by "liking" the school's photo. The school with the most "likes" will win a weather station!

The deadline for 8th grade students to complete their application for the magnet programs at any of the five traditional high schools in Douglas County for the 2021-2022 school year is Monday, December 14. New Manchester High School is hosting its final online information session for its award-winning FAME program TONIGHT (December 9) at 6:30 p.m. For access to the info session go to: https://meet.google.com/mdy-nbmg-qkg... Take a look at FAME's promotional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5HYB5xdIlw&feature=youtu.be To apply for any of the magnet programs, go to: https://dcssmagnets.awardspring.com/