| Superintendent: Parents must be ‘engaged’
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
 Photo by Andy Phelan
DeKalb County schools opened Aug. 11. |
As the first day of school dawned on DeKalb Aug. 11, nowhere was there more excitement than Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy.
The new 99,000-square-foot, 55 classroom elementary school on Second Avenue in Decatur was bustling with more than 800 students and hundreds of parents eager to get off to a good start.
Altogether more than 92,000 students and 7,00 teachers licked off the new school year on Monday.
The Academy, a symbol of Superintendent Crawford Lewis’ redistricting and consolidation plan, puts pre-K through fifth-grade students from the former elementary schools Leslie J. Steele, Tilson and Terry Mill under one roof.
“Our theme this year is the birth of a foundation of excellence,” said Principal Marchell Boston II, who led Terry Mill until this year. “We will help the students develop self confidence and self pride that will help them be successful in their lives.”
One of more than 130 schools district wide that opened its doors to begin the school year, the Academy sits on the site of the old Leslie J. Steele.
“This is one of the most beautiful facilities I have ever seen,” said Lewis, who visited almost a dozen schools throughout opening day. “This is a historical day, and you’re the first class at this new school.”
Lewis stressed at every stop that parents must become more involved in their child’s school if the district ever hopes of achieving the kind of success Lewis envisions.
“The days of just dropping off your kids and assuming they have everything they need at school is over,” said Lewis. “What we need are parents to be engaged. We need parents to show their kids that their education is the most important thing in the world.”
Principal Boston said the Academy will focus on making students into “critical thinkers.”
“One way we’ll do that is by bringing in experts from the community to speak with students about what they do,” said Boston. “We want our students to have a connection to the real working world.”
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