Lakeside High School Sets Major Construction and Renovation Project

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Tuesday, November 16 at 4 p.m.

UPDATE: Due to weather concerns, the ground breaking has been postponed until Dec. 2nd.

Lakeside-DeKalb High School has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for Tuesday, November 16 at 4 p.m. to commemorate the start of major construction additions and renovations of the school facilities located at 3801 Briarcliff Road.

The event, to be held just due east of the gymnasium, will be hosted by Lakeside principal Joe Reed and invited attendees include various DeKalb County School System dignitaries.

Construction and renovations to the school, which was opened in 1965, include the addition of a 600-seat fine arts auditorium, 25 new classrooms, new science labs, career tech facilities and new special needs classrooms. Locker rooms, restrooms, cafeteria, media center and other spaces will get much needed makeovers, and the facility’s technology, security and ADA accessibility will also be upgraded.

According to Mr. Reed, the challenge of continuing to educate students amidst the two-year project is one that the school and community will pull together to get through. “Lakeside and its surrounding community have a strong tradition of working together,” said Mr. Reed. “We’ll manage through this process that ultimately will benefit our community, faculty and most importantly our students.” He added, “I was a student here back in the 1970’s and not much has changed since then. That just goes to show you how much this project is needed.”

Funding for the $24 million project comes from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) III used to pay for necessary school system capital improvements including building improvements, new schools, classroom additions, technology, and transportation needs. Project architect is Manley, Spangler & Smith and construction will be handled by the Hogan Construction Group.

Numerous other additions and enhancements to the facilities that will not be covered by the SPLOST funds are to be funded through “The Valhalla Project” by way of the Lakeside High School Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) corporation. More information on the Foundation can be found and donations can be made at www.lakesidefoundation.org.

About Lakeside High School
Tradition. Legacy. Expectation. Reputation. Lakeside High School gives life to each. Opened in 1965, Lakeside has built traditions of excellence and top achievement in academics, athletics, visual and performing arts, citizenship and community service. Such are the traditions of being a Lakeside Viking. With its vibrant, diverse and high-performing students, teachers and administrators, Lakeside is poised to remain a pillar of the community for many years to come.

Kudos to Joe Reed!

I couldn't be more proud of the new principal at Lakeside, Joe Reed. The man lives in reality and is making a sincere effort to reach out to ALL students and parents at the school. Historically, this has not been done in DeKalb. DCSS administration deals only in black and white. We live in denial of the fact that we have nearly as many Hispanic students in DCSS as we do whites. In fact, DeKalb hosts students from all over the world who mostly reside in central and north areas of the county. Schools in the south end of the county do not have the immigrant/language/cultural issues to deal with that the schools in central and north DeKalb do, as schools in the south are mostly homogeneous African-American. Teachers and principals in these multi-cultural schools are working very hard to close achievement gaps and increase equity for immigrant students.

Allow me to post Joe Reed's letter to the Hispanic community below. I know that other schools are using similar outreach techniques, and sincerely hope that principals with the same highly diverse populations as Lakeside band together and tackle the cultural issues as a team. It's up to the principals to lead this effort, as there doesn't appear to be a serious focus on this issue in the system's administrative leadership.

Dear Parents, Estimádos Padres de Familia,

You are the most important persons in your child's education. We want you to know about Lakeside High School, what we are trying to do and how you can help your child to be successful.

Ustedes son las personas más importantes en la educación de sus hijos. Nosotros en Lakeside High School queremos que sepan de todo lo que estamos haciendo para apoyar las metas educativas de sus hijos.

We invite you to a special meeting on Monday, November 2, at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria with your son or daughter to discuss opportunities at Lakeside and to help us plan to better include our Spanish speaking families in the decisions made at Lakeside. At this meeting we will talk about the courses your son or daughter is taking, the tests that he or she must pass and the many choices available after high school. We will also discuss ways that you can be more involved in Lakeside High School.

Les invitamos a ustedes con sus hijos a una reunión el lunes 2 de noviembre 2009 a las 7:00 pm en la cafetería. Esta reunión es para ayudarnos incluir a las familias de habla español en las decisiones que tomamos en Lakeside. Durante esta reunión hablaremos de los cursos que sus hijos están tomando, los varios exámenes que tienen que tomar para graduarse, y las varias opciones que tienen después que acaban la secundaria.

We want you to know that Lakeside is your school. Whether you speak English or not, your participation is important to our success and the success of your child. We hope you will be able to attend what we believe will be an informational and organizational meeting for our Spanish speaking parents.

Lakeside es su escuela. Si habla inglés o no su participación en la educación de sus hijos es critico para que nosotros lleguemos a nuestras metas en educar a sus hijos y para que ellos sean exitosos. Esperamos que ustedes puedan asistir a esta reunión que va a ser muy informativa para ustedes, nuestros padres de habla español.

We need you. Please put mark Monday, November 2, at 7:00 p.m. on your calendar. We want to see you there.

Los necesitamos. Por favor marque su calendario para el lunes 2 de noviembre 2009 a las 7:00. Los esperamos.

Sincerely,

Atentamente,

Joe Reed

Principal

Lakeside High School