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Updated information on DCSD Serendipity
My apologies for this second post, but I just received additional information about the Serendipity program from the DeKalb County gifted office. Most important is that the registration deadline is this Friday, March 24.
Session 1 is actually May 30 to June 2, not May 30 to June 1. This session will be held at Stone Mountain Middle School.
Session 2, June 26-29, will be held at McNair Middle School.
DCSD has confirmed that there will be no registration fee for Serendipity 2023. Additionally, participating students will be provided with breakfast and lunch each day of the program. However, transportation is not provided.
Registration open for DeKalb County’s Serendipty summer program for gifted students
Note: See the updated post to get more detailed and accurate information about Serendipity.
DeKalb County School District (DCSD) has opened registration for its 2023 summer programs, including the Serendipity enrichment program for gifted-identified students.
Serendipity will hold two sessions: May 30 to June 1 (3 days) and June 26 to June 29 (4 days). (Correction: Session 1 is May 30 to June 2.) Topics will range from visual and performing arts to world language and computer technology. Serendipity is open to students currently in grades 1-6 who have been identified as gifted through DCSD’s identification process.
Other DCSD summer camps include Girls Who Code for high-school girls and Aviation Camp for grades 4-6.
To enroll in any DCSD camp, a student must be enrolled in a DCSD school. The camps are provided by the county at no cost.
More information on all DCSD summer camps is online.
DeKalb to offer MAP testing for private- and home-schooled students applying to high achiever magnets
DeKalb County School District will offer MAP Assessment testing in October and November for students not currently enrolled in a county public school who want to apply to one of the county’s high achiever magnet schools for the 2023-24 school year.
Testing is open to students who live in DeKalb County and who currently attend homeschool or a private school. Registration is open now and will close on Sept. 23, 2022.
It’s important to know that not all students who achieve a qualifying MAP test score will be able to enroll in a high achiever magnet school. These schools consistently draw more applicants than they have room for. All applicants who meet the qualifications will be entered into a lottery and available seats at each school will be filled by random selection.
DeKalb Serendipity summer program for gifted students
Registration is now open for DeKalb County School District’s summer program for gifted students. Serendipity is a four-day enrichment program open to gifted-identified students who are currently in grades 1-6, and who attended a DeKalb County public school in the 2016-17 school year. (If your child qualifies for the program, their school should send a flyer home with them about it, but “should” is the operative word here.)
This year’s Serendipity program will take place June 12-15 at Stone Mountain Middle School, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day. Cost is $200 per student. You can find additional details and a link to the online registration form in the 2017 Serendipity Flyer for Registration (PDF).
Registration closes May 31, 2017.
Open enrollment for DeKalb magnet and charter schools through Feb. 22
Applications are being accepted for DeKalb County’s magnet and charter schools through Feb. 22, 2017, for the 2017-18 school year.
The school choice program now includes four high schools offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) Preparatory Program: Druid Hills, Tucker, and MLK Jr. high schools. These schools join the IB elementary and middle schools in the DeKalb County system: Avondale Elementary School, Fernbank Elementary School, Midvale Elementary School, Druid Hills Middle School, and Tucker Middle School.
Also part of open enrollment are the high achievers magnet programs at Kittredge Elementary School, Wadsworth Elementary School, Chamblee Middle School, Chapel Hill Middle School, Chamblee Charter High School, and Southwest DeKalb High School. In order to apply to these programs, your child must achieve qualifying scores on certain standardized tests. If your child qualifies, you should receive a letter from your school — but we all know that letters sent home with children sometimes don’t make it into our hands, so if you think your child is eligible and you haven’t received an invitation to apply to the high achievers magnets, check with your school.
Now is also the time to apply to DeKalb’s elementary and high schools of the arts. Those schools require an audition packet, in addition to the standard open enrollment application.
The county’s school choice website offers a complete list of the available schools and an online application. Keep in mind that space in each school is limited. Open spaces will be assigned by a random lottery of all qualified applicants, scheduled to take place in May.
DeKalb school choice applications delayed
Open enrollment for school choice in DeKalb County is open now — but only on paper. This includes applications for the county’s high achiever magnet schools for the 2015-16 school year.
Online registration was scheduled to begin yesterday, but because of technical problems, it’s been pushed back to Feb. 10 — contingent on the IT department completing the integration of the old e-portal system with the newer Infinite Campus system. To make up for the delay, the county has extended the application period an additional week, to Feb. 27.
Between now and Feb. 10, you can submit a paper application for a school outside your attendance zone, although when I spoke with the school choice office yesterday, they seemed to favor waiting until next week and using the online system.
In the meantime, if you don’t have an Infinite Campus account yet, get one. If all goes as planned, your Infinite Campus account information will serve as your login for the e-portal, where registration for school choice will be hosted.
The school system will hold lotteries in March and April to assign the available spaces.
Visit the district’s school choice page to learn more.
DeKalb offers ITBS testing for magnet school applicants
DeKalb County Schools is offering ITBS testing for students who want to apply to its magnet programs, including the high achiever magnet schools at Kittredge / Chamblee or Wadsworth / Chapel Hill / Southwest DeKalb, but who lack qualifying test scores.
Who is this test for?
- Students currently in grades 4, 6, or 8 who did not have qualifying scores for the high achiever programs when they took the ITBS test in 3rd, 5th, or 7th grade
- Students in homeschool or private school in grades 3 through 8
If your child already has qualifying scores, there’s no need to register for this testing. It is only for students who lack the required test scores for admission to the magnet programs.
Download the PDF for more information and an application for the test. The deadline to apply is Oct. 24, 2014.
Plans for DeKalb County Schools 2014 Serendipity summer program
Every summer, the DeKalb County School District offers a day camp called Serendipity for gifted children enrolled in its public elementary schools.
Every spring, DeKalb County parents wonder when they are going to get the details of the program so they can plan their children’s summer schedules and get their kids registered. Two parents asked me about it this week, so I contacted DeKalb’s gifted coordinator, Donyell Atkinson. Here’s what she told me:
Serendipity 2014 is planned for June 16 to 19 at Brockett Elementary School in Tucker. The camp will meet daily from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
As for when parents can get full details and register, Ms. Atkinson writes, “Registration brochures will be distributed to the
local schools upon receipt from vendor.”
If you want to enroll your child, my advice is to check their backpack daily for the brochure.
Parent survey about gifted education in DeKalb County
Parents with children in DeKalb County public schools, the county is asking for your feedback about its gifted education program.
An online parent survey is being conducted by an outside firm called Beanstalk Innovation, as part of a complete audit of the county’s gifted services. The survey will be available through March 10.
To learn more about the audit, its purposes and activities, you can view the PDF of the Gifted Audit Presentation that was presented to the Board of Education at its meeting earlier this month. Thanks to Dr. Kathy Howe, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, for taking the initiative to send me this PDF to share with the gifted community.
Apply now for next year’s STT 9th-grade science course at Fernbank
Current DeKalb County eighth graders who are interested in hands-on science should check in with their school’s guidance office about enrolling in next year’s Scientific Tools and Techniques (STT), offered at the Fernbank Science Center.
STT is a half-day program taught in the first semester of ninth grade, focusing on scientific inquiry. The county provides bus transportation from the student’s home school to and from Fernbank. The program is free to DeKalb County students.
Students who successfully complete the course will earn one credit for biology and one for earth systems.
Each school sets its own application deadline. Fernbank will hold an open house on Thursday, Feb. 13. For more information, contact Denise Savage at the science center, at (678) 874-7102.
Gifted Atlanta 