A Broadway star in the making is inspiring Douglas County choral students to dream big. Kelly Methven graduated from Alexander High School in 2010 and has been delighting audiences worldwide as a singer and dancer. He has toured as a cast member of Westside Story, Rock of Ages and most recently as part of the Broadway adaptation of Disney's Frozen. 

This year's math competition may look a little different, but the show will go on! Thanks to Jonathan Ware, an award-winning math coach from Mason Creek Middle School, schools will compete with one another through a digitally-based interactive tournament using the platform Kahoot. Elementary and middle school students will participate in individual and group competitions.

The virtual event will take place in March 2021. Coaches will recruit teams in the next few weeks, and the traditional T-shirt competition will again take place.

Mr. Ware has taught math for eight years. He currently teaches 8th grade and serves as chair of his professional learning community. He has coached several winning math competition teams and enjoys seeing students excel in his math classes daily.

Teachers at Lithia Springs Elementary School are finding creative ways to impact learning while practicing social distancing. Principal Tonia Small recently commended her faculty and staff for taking Personal Responsibility in Demonstrating Excellence (P.R.I.D.E) within the school. “I am amazed at the dedication my teachers are showing as they adapt to this new way of providing instruction. Teachers are juggling face-to-face learning while teaching virtual learners,” she said. “We are all learning and growing while developing this new process.”

To see scores for all schools, please click here.

Captain Williams became interested in public safety at the age of 12. "An officer would ride through the housing projects where I lived and would stop to talk and play games with us," he said. "At the age of 14, I joined the Police Explorers program and became even more interested in becoming a police officer."

After graduating from McEachern High School, Captain Williams began his career in law enforcement as a 911 dispatcher and then progressed to crime scene tech. He then served as a jailer and an officer in 1998 under a community oriented policing grant.

He also has experience as a K-9 officer, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and even police chief. He has over 2,600 hours of training, including field training officer, supervision training, management training and executive training certification.

Captain Williams has always given back to his community through churches and schools and coached baseball for 10 years. He lives in Douglas County and has one child left at home who is attending Alexander High School. "I decided to join the Douglas County School System Police Department because I want to continue to make a difference in my own community, starting with our youth," said Captain Williams. "I want to show them the positive side of law enforcement that I saw as a child and help them to know that police officers are here to listen and help in any way possible."

Captain Williams' office is located at Arbor Station Elementary, but he serves as the captain over the north sector of the county. He supervises all SRO's in that area to ensure everyone is doing their best to support the students, staff and parents.

Captain Williams and his wife rescue animals. They currently have two bulls, two donkeys, four pigs, five goats and numerous chickens.

ATTENTION 8th GRADERS AND PARENTS:

Information sessions about the amazing magnet programs in all five high schools plus the CCI will take place in October and November. The link to the online application will be available by October 6. The deadline to apply is Monday, December 14. Podcasts about each program will be available soon. Please click the link below for a timeline and contact information for each school.

Enjoy this video featuring the FAME magnet program at New Manchester High School. You will be impressed!

Coach Jackson has coached football at the high school level for 10 years, with the last five years at New Manchester. He served as defensive coordinator for three years at NMHS before taking on the role of head coach.

For a varsity football schedule for all high schools in Douglas County, please click here.

For the electronic Athletic Calendar which features all fall sports, please click here.

DCSS kicked off its clear bag policy on September 18 at the Douglas County High School varsity football game, which was played at New Manchester High School due to stadium renovations at DCHS.

The first 50 fans through the gate received a clear bag with the DCSS logo! The giveaway will continue at home football games this evening.

Remember, the following types of bags will be permitted inside DCSS sporting events:

We are so excited that the Partners in Education program is now a part of the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce! This exciting program allows businesses and schools to partner together for a mutually beneficial relationship. For information about upcoming events and examples of great partnerships, please go to the PIE newsletter at the link below.

The deadline to complete the 2020 Census is September 30, 2020. Please visit www.2020Census.gov or call 1-844-330-2020 to participate.

High school students: The PROBE College Fair has gone virtual! Sign up for the college fair at this link. Parents may sign up for registration announcements and information updates here.