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Druid Hills High School

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Coordinates: 33°47′37″N 84°18′58″W / 33.79356°N 84.31603°W / 33.79356; -84.31603
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Druid Hills High School
File:Druid Hills High School Creast.jpg
Location
Map
Druid Hills
,
Georgia

USA
Information
TypePublic
MottoQuality Teaching, Quality Learning
Established1919
School number2055
PrincipalMindee Adamson
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,421[1]
Average class size250 to 400[2]
Student to teacher ratio16.8[3]
CampusSuburban
Color(s)Red and Black
   
AthleticsBaseball, Basketball, Cheerleading, Cross Country, Rifle Team, Football, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball, and Wrestling [4]
MascotRed Devils
NewspaperThe Spotlight
YearbookSAGA
WebsiteA Premier Dekalb School
The main building as viewed from the school's picnic area.

Druid Hills High School is a high school operated by the DeKalb County School System. It is located at 1798 Haygood Drive, in the Druid Hills CDP in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States.[1][5] It serves the Druid Hills CDP, the North Druid Hills CDP, and the North Decatur CDP.

School Characteristics

Schedule

Druid Hills runs on a block schedule, meaning that students normally take four classes per semester. Some classes last two semesters because of curriculum requirements, such as many Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Higher Level classes.[1] First and second period classes at Druid Hills are 90 minutes long. Third and fourth period are slightly longer because of lunch and the afternoon announcements. All lunches are 25 minutes long. Because lunch is during third period, which lunch a student goes to is determined by what class they have third period class.[6]

Enrollment

Enrollment for the current 2009-2010 school year is 1,421 students[1] in grades 9-12.

Accreditation

Druid Hills is accredited by the Southern Association for Secondary Schools and Colleges and the Georgia High School Accrediting Commission.[citation needed]

School media

Druid Hills has three primarily student-run media outlets: The Spotlight, the school newspaper; ‘‘SAGA’’, the school's yearbook; and WDHS, the in-school news network. The Spotlight, founded in 1938, is the oldest school newspaper in DeKalb County and is published monthly during the school year, funded mostly by advertising revenue and the PTSA. SAGA publishes yearly. The publications are run by classes, rather than extracurricular clubs.

History

The School's Founding

Druid Hills High School is one of the oldest schools in the DeKalb County School System. Emory University founded Druid Hills School in the Fishburne Building on the Emory Campus in 1919 as a school for faculty children. In 1928, the K-11 school moved to its current site at 1798 Haygood Drive. In 1959, the elementary students were moved to the then new Fernbank Elementary School and Druid Hills then housed grades 8-12.[7]

Briarcliff High School Merger

Briarcliff High School graduated its first class in 1962 and was closed in 1987. In the 1987-1988 school year, the student body of Briarcliff High School merged with Druid Hills High School. The tradition of Baron's Hall, which was established in 1962 at Briarcliff High School, was maintained when the two schools merged. Today the old Briarcliff High School building and campus houses Open Campus and the DeKalb School of the Arts.[7]

Shamrock High School Closure

In the spring of 1996, Shamrock High School graduated its last class as a high school and is closed to be converted into a middle school. In the fall of the same year, Shamrock High School merged with Druid Hills and the former building reopened as Shamrock Middle School. In 1993 Shamrock High School acquired its NJROTC (Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps) program. With the merger of Shanrock High School with Druid Hills High the decision was made to maintain Shamrock's NJROTC program and it moved to Druid Hills High School, thus becoming Druid Hills NJROTC. Today Druid Hills houses grades 9-12.[7] [8]

Alfred Uhry Theater

When the Druid Hills Theater was renovated under the non-profit Uhry Theater project organization, the modernized theater became known as the Alfred Uhry Theater after the playwright Alfred Fox Uhry, a Druid Hills alumnus from 1954.[9]

The Joseph C. Faulkner Library Media Center

The Joseph C. Faulkner Library Media Center was dedicated May 24, 2004 in honor of Joe Faulkner's retirement after 33 faithful years of teaching English and coaching cross country at Druid Hills..[10]

Baron's Hall

Baron's Hall is a tradition that was established in 1962 at Briarcliff High School and was maintained when Briarcliff High School merged with Druid Hills High School. This traditional ceremony is held for the purpose of honoring seniors who have excelled in the areas of athletics, leadership, service, the arts, academics, and foreign languages. The National Beta Club of Druid Hills sponsors baron's Hall. Three anonymous judges then judge their applications.

Judges for Baron’s Hall use a tally sheet to determine the awards. The judges give one tally mark for every year that a student participated in an activity. (Example: Football = 1 tally mark in the designated box). If a student has achieved letters/bars or has had a leadership position, one point is appointed for each. (Example: Captain of football = 1 tally mark, a letter and 2 bars in Cross Country = 3 tally marks). The tally sheet is arranged by category; by the end, it is obvious which seniors deserve awards. Four to eight seniors are chosen per category...[11]

Sports

Cross country

The Druid Hills cross country team enjoyed success in the 2008 season. Both the girl's and boy's teams made the state championship, placing 8th and 5th respectively.[12][13] Druid Hill's Nabil Hamid won the AAA state championship with a time of 15:49.82.[13]

Boys Track

Druid Hills high school has won seven boys track state championships: 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1960, and 1963[14] Long-time WSB-TV news anchor John Pruitt was a member of the 1960 state champion team.[15]

Renovation

Druid Hills High School is currently undergoing a major renovation. The renovation was originally scheduled to be completed in August 2009, but due to many delays, the date has been pushed back into October 2009. The changes being made during the renovation include:

  • New restrooms on the second floor of the main building.
  • Updates to the media center
  • Expansion of the girls’ locker room
  • A new two story building to house science classes
  • Increased wheelchair accessibility[16]
  • New HVAC system

Notable alumni

  • Sam Massell, Former Mayor of Atlanta. Class of 1944[15]
  • Ron Blomberg, Major League Baseball Player for New York Yankees. Class of 1966[15]
  • Brenda Boozer. NYC Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano. Class of 1966[15]
  • Herman Talmadge, Former Georgia Governor (1947, 1948–1954) and Former Georgia Senator (1956–1980).[15]
  • Alfred Uhry, Playwright. Class of 1954[15]
  • Ray Stevens, Award winning recording artist. Class of 1957[15]
  • John Pruitt, Long-time WSB-TV (Channel 2) News Anchor[15]
  • Josh Arieh (Class of 1992) World Series of Poker Champion
  • Donnie (Class of 1992)Artist/Songwriter- http://www.giantstep.net/releases/312
  • Jay Cromwell, All-county quarterback. First QB to win homecoming game in 15 years
  • Michael Smith, Meteorologist, Local 10 News, WPLG-TV Miami, Florida (Class of 1995)

Feeder schools

The following elementary schools feed into Druid Hills:[17]

Shamrock Middle School is Druid Hills's feeder middle school.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Druid Hills". DeKalb County Schools. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  2. ^ "National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)". Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  3. ^ "National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)". Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Sports". Druid Hills High School website. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Druid Hills CDP, GA." United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 5, 2009.
  6. ^ "Druid Hills Bell Schedule". Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  7. ^ a b c "History". Druid Hills High School website. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  8. ^ Pauling, Senior Chief Calvin B. (2004), "Druid Hills/Shamrock NJROTC History", In persion at Druid Hills high School {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ "Uhry Theater". Druid Hills High School website. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  10. ^ "Library". Druid Hills High School website. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  11. ^ "Baron's Hall". Druid Hills High School website. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  12. ^ GHSA. "GHSA Girls AAA Cross Country Results 2008". Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  13. ^ a b GHSA. "GHSA Boys AAA Cross Country Results 2008". Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  14. ^ GHSA. "GHSA Boys Track State Champions". Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h "Druid Hills Famous Alumni". Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  16. ^ http://cliftoncommunitypartnership.org/view/articles/view_one/&articleid=254
  17. ^ "DeKalb County Elementary Feeder Schools" (PDF). 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-11-16.

33°47′37″N 84°18′58″W / 33.79356°N 84.31603°W / 33.79356; -84.31603

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