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Briarlake Elementary

Dekalb County Schools

Registration
Infinite Campus

Accomplishments

Academic Achievement

Students participate in the following academic events:
  • Academic challenges open to every grade.  Open to every child, every ability.
  • Odyssey of the Mind 
    • Briarlake's Science Olympiad is recognized as one of the top 10 programs in the county and 1st alternate for state (7th).
  • Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl
    • Briarlake's reading bowl team finished 4th in the county.
    • A Briarlake 5th grader won the Reading Bowl T-Shirt Design Contest in 2015-2016
  • Reflections (Arts)
    • County and 1st Place State Winners
  • DCSD Science Olympiad
    • County and State Winners
  • DCSD Social Studies Fair
    • 1st Place East Metro Regional Winners
  • DCSD Technology Fair 
    • 1st Place County Winners
 Citizen Scientists
  • Briarlake's 4th grade science teacher is a certified Monarch Teacher
  • Through a partnership with the University of Georgia, 4th grade students collect and learn from DNA samples of monarch butterflies.
  • Through a partnership with the University of Kansas, 4th grade students tag monarch butterflies and track their migration patterns. 
Technology Owned by Briarlake
  • Aquaponics
  • Dot & Dash robots
  • Makey Makey
  • Lego Robotics
  • STEM Lego Kits
  • 40 iPads
  • All teachers have iPads
  • Touch screen promethean boards
  • Innovation Lab 
Gifted Certification
  • All Briarlake teachers are working on gifted certification.  The funding for gifted certification is being paid for by the Briarlake PTA 
Wellness Committee 
  • Briarlake staff have a wellness committee through which they research ways to increase wellness among Briarlake students.
  • Briarlake is a Georgia Department of Public Health Power Up for 30 school 

Cultural Diversity

  • Briarlake has one of the few inclusive Deaf/Hard of Hearing programs in Georgia.
  • 15 different languages are spoken by Briarlake families and cildren, including American Sign Language
  • Of all DeKalb county schools, Briarlake's racial/ethnic diversity is one of the few schools that closely mirrors the racial/ethnic diversity of the state of Georgia
    • White - 51%
    • Black/African American - 24%
    • Asian American - 9%
    • Hispanic/Latino - 8%
    • Other - 7%
    • American Indian/Alaskan Native - 1%

Parent Engagement & Involvement

Briarlake's PTA supports the following activities:
  •  Lego & Big Thinkers STEM Days
  • Visiting Artists & Cultural Assemblies for our children
  • Academic Bowls/Teams/Competitions, Odyssey of the Mind
  • Classroom start-up funds for teachers and paraprofessionals
  • 10 Family Enrichment Programs (e.g., International Night, Field Day)
  • Supplies for Art, Music, School Nurse, Special Education Classrooms, and Media Center
  • Trainings for teachers, staff appreciation, & gifted certification funds
  • Spirit wear for all teachers
  • Campus beautification
    • Monthly litter clean-up
    • Building a fence around the outdoor classroom
    • a new track for Track Club
    • regular maintenance of the grounds
  • Coordination of volunteers to support our school events
  • Briarlake's PTA is the only PTA in the county that has a formal community outreach event as part of their programs (i.e., Family Service Night)
  • Weekly e-mail blasts, website, student directory, yearbook
  • A New playground, outdoor classroom, laptops, ELMO projectors, pull-down maps, Orton-Gillingham training for teachers, and more!
Briarlake's Foundation supported the hiring of a part-time technology coach who was responsible for bringing much of the technology into the school. 
 
 Congratulations to our wonderful PTA
  • Briarlake PTA was the only elementary PTA in DeKalb County to earn the model PTA award this past year from Georgia PTA 
  • 51 parents serve in the PTA, Foundation, and School Council leadership roles (over 12% of all Briarlake families)
  • 82 parents serve in the rold of room parent/STEM parent/reader parent/copy parent (over 20% of all Briarlake families)
  • 284 volunteers across school events (over 70% of all Briarlake families)