For facts and figures from the 2020-2021 school year, check out the 2021 Annual Report for the Douglas County School System. The document includes revenues, expenditures, demographics, graduation rate, and more.

On January 6th Dorsett Shoals celebrated their second “Data Day” of the school year. Students participated in a virtual pep rally in which Mrs. Kelly Brown, principal, congratulated students on all of the progress made during 1st semester, and spoke about the importance of setting goals and working hard to achieve them. The virtual pep rally concluded with Mrs. Brown teaching & leading the entire school in a Data Day Cheer:

D - A - T - A

Let’s celebrate data day!

Classrooms could be seen and heard all throughout the school shouting the cheer and waving their pom-poms.

Over 80% of students met their 1st Data Day goal and attended the “Goal Getter GLOW Party” in the gym complete with glow sticks, music, and a disco ball. Even our SRO, Officer Outley, got in on the fun!

Teachers and students utilize “Data Days” to conference about academic progress as indicated by Star testing scores and math fact fluency scores in all grades, as well as sight word accomplishments in the younger grades. Teachers assist students in charting their growth and setting individualized new goals for the next quarter. The entire Dorsett community is looking forward to the two remaining Data Days scheduled for March and May. Let’s go Panthers!

4th grade students at Chapel Hill Elementary (CHES) chose an important figure to research and present information about in the form of a wax museum. Students created poster boards with facts and dressed up like their person. Students in other grades were able to visit the presenters and learn interesting facts in a fun way.

4th grade teacher Mrs. Theodore coordinated the event for the school. She said “originally, the Wax Museum was a tradition at CHES. The team and I chose to keep this tradition going because it showcases all the standards we cover and helps students increase soft skills like speaking clearly in front of an audience. The Wax Museum is a great way for our students to demonstrate the types of engaging activities younger students will have when they enter fourth grade. Older students were encouraging and reminisced about their own Wax Museum experience. The amount of endurance the students showed in diligently working on a project for over a month was incredible. Not every student will demonstrate their learning through traditional paper and pencil assignments. The Wax Museum allows teachers to assess other skills students possess like creativity and innovation.”

Abby Swanson chose Misty Copeland because she loves ballet, acting, and writing just like Misty. Aubrey Ellis chose Mae C. Jemison because she was the first African American woman to go to space and felt like it would be really cool to go into space.

Our motto at Chapel Hill Elementary is “where success is a tradition” and we live out that mission daily.

The National Jr. Beta Club celebrates it's founders each year. The theme for the celebration this school year was "Make a Difference." Betas at New Manchester Elementary have certainly been doing just that in their school, community, and beyond.

Under the leadership of their dedicated sponsors, Kelli Rowsey, Brandon Bowen, George Hamilton, and Shanta Williams, they have worked cooperatively to help many others. In their school, they held a Service Saturday where they cleaned up school grounds, and secretly delivered "Staff Smiles" for every staff member. When they arrived to work the following Monday, the certificate of appreciation and treat made them smile. For students, they left encouraging chalk messages all around the playground. They also raised $300 in one week and donated it to Sister by Choice, an Atlanta-based breast cancer action organization that helps those who are underserved by conducting mobile mammograms. NMES staff enjoyed jeans passes for their donations.

Additionally, NMES Betas thought it was important to get students together safely to socialize since the pandemic caused us to have to be apart for so long. As a result, they held a Socially Distanced Sock Hop.

They each invited up to five friends to wear their craziest socks and play games, dance, and enjoy concessions in the gym. Everyone invited and all of the Betas brought new pairs of socks that were donated to Gateway 180, a women and children's shelter in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Over 75 new pairs of socks were donated.

Although they meet virtually, you can always find this group working together to uphold the pillars of Beta: Achievement, Character, Leadership, and Service to make a difference.

For the fourth time in five years, a Douglas County High player has claimed Douglas County’s highest football honor. Myles Oliver was honored Tuesday with the Howard Thompson Football Award. The trophy has been awarded annually since 1985 to a senior in honor of the man credited with bringing football to Douglas County. To qualify for the award, the honoree must be a senior in good academic standing, be a superior athlete and possess outstanding character and leadership abilities.

Myles is a defensive back for the Douglas County Tigers. The senior had 75 tackles this past season with five interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. He was also a backup running back and quarterback for the Tigers, who advanced to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. Myles also excels academically with a 3.45 grade-point average. In 2017, his cousin Braelen Oliver won the same award. Braelen is currently a linebacker at the University of Minnesota.

The Howard Thompson award is voted on by each school’s head football coach, the Douglas County School System’s Athletic Director, and Douglas County Sentinel Sports Editor, Derrick Mahone.

The Howard Thompson winners for the remaining schools are Nehemiah Dukes, Alexander High School, Davion Leslie, Lithia Springs High School, DeAndre Jones, New Manchester High School, and Komari Frye, Chapel Hill High School.