By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 12, 2018 | It was an early-morning open house recently at the new Paul Duke STEM High School in Norcross. I was disappointed in the lack of a crowd to tour the new facility. The school had mailed invitations for the public to come look at the just-finished school, though workmen were going through the final check-list while we were there.
The school itself is beautiful, built at 5850 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Norcross. It is expected to relieve crowded conditions at Norcross High, while offering an innovative program in science, technology, engineering and math.
Denise Millholland, who was previously at Central Gwinnett, assistant to Principal Dr. Jonathan Weatherington, showed me around.
You immediately get an idea that this school is different, since near the entrance, and adjacent to the central office, is an Entrepreneurship Center. That central space will be used by business partners and teachers for classes, a creative space to allow students to work alongside community members to bring their business skills to share with the students, many on internships. It will also be where students will work on capstone projects, or even start a company.
To view the STEM school layout, click the image.
We walked to the then-silent student Commons, a big central area where students will meet and have lunch. Next to it is the auditorium, where about half the next year’s 900 student body can assemble at one time. Only freshmen, sophomores and juniors will be on campus the first year, with four full classes next year.
Though the STEM students won’t compete with other schools in athletics, there’s a fairly good size gymnasium, as they will have intramural sports. On the main floor are dance, orchestra and band rooms, other outlets for creative expression. Another large space on the first floor will be an engineering-robotics lab. Students will be able to fabricate projects here, hence the name “Fab Lab.” Among the machines here will be 3D printers and CNC plasma cutters.
Most of the regular classrooms will be on the second and third floors. Throughout the school will be “C Spaces,” that is, Collaboration Spaces, aimed at allowing room for students (and teachers) to “spark creativity” and which also allows the building to be more open and inviting.
All in all, the new Paul Duke STEM School is just that, “open and inviting” and should be a hit when the students get there on August 6. The school year ends on May 22, 2019. Note that in 2018 all Gwinnett County Public School students will have a “fall break” with no classes on October 4,5 and 8. Put that on your calendar to take advantage this October.
SINCE WRITING ABOUT SCHOOLS today, we were surprised to learn that Georgia State University, now the state’s largest university with 55,000 students, is the nation’s leader in the last five years in awarding more bachelor’s degrees to African American students than any other non-profit college in the United States.
Granted that while that is significant, realize this, too, about GSU: It raised its overall graduation rate from 32 percent in 2003, to 54 percent in 2017. It’s done that by monitoring 40,000 student undergrads by using data analysis to predict potential academic problems, then working closely with these students at the first sign of trouble. This method of monitoring students has attracted attention from as far away as the Netherlands and South Africa. It sounds like a model that needs to be extended through the University System of Georgia! Wow, Big Attaboy, Georgia State!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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