DeKalb School of the Arts (DSA) is a public performing arts magnet school

Magnet school

In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...

 in unincorporated DeKalb County

DeKalb County, Georgia

DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population of the county was 691,893 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is the city of Decatur. It is bordered to the west by Fulton County and contains roughly 10% of the city of Atlanta...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, east of the city of Atlanta.

DeKalb School of the Arts is located at 1192 Clarendon Avenue, Avondale Estates, GA 30002,

History

DSA began its life in 1985 under the direction of Richard Leitgeb and became the DeKalb Center for Performing Arts (DCPA), a magnet program housed at Avondale High School. In 1999 it was split off and became the DeKalb School of the Arts. DSA has many successful alumni, including Celise Hicks, dance captain for Disney's The Lion King

The Lion King (musical)

The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...

on Broadway.

After 8 years at its independent location, DeKalb School of the Arts moved back into Avondale High School, its original home, in August 2010. It was previously located on the site of the former Briarcliff High School

Briarcliff High School (DeKalb County, Georgia)

Briarcliff High School was a public high school opened by the DeKalb County School System in 1958 in order to relieve overcrowding at Druid Hills High School...

. DSA will house their students on the hall that is no longer in use by Avondale High School(3rd Hall). DSA will continue to have their own administrative team.

Alumni

DSA alumni also include Deidre Henry, hip hop producer Nitti Beatz, R & B singer Lloyd

Lloyd (singer)

Lloyd Polite, Jr. , who performs under the mononym Lloyd, is an American R&B recording artist, who experienced as a member of the group N-Toon before embarking on a solo career in 2004....

, "Community" star Donald Glover

Donald Glover

Donald McKinley Glover is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician. Glover first came to attention for his work in the sketch group Derrick Comedy, and is best known for his role as community college student Troy Barnes on the NBC comedy series Community...

http://blogs.ajc.com/radio-tv-talk/2009/09/29/interview-with-former-atlantan-donald-glover-on-nbcs-new-community-with-joel-mchale-chevy-chase/, Cameron Nico (descendant of Moms Mabley

Moms Mabley

Jackie "Moms" Mabley, born Loretta Mary Aiken , was an American standup comedian and a pioneer of the so-called "Chitlin' Circuit" of African-American vaudeville.-Early years:...

), Cekoya Burch, India Arie producer Branden Burch, professional dancer Saidah Nairobi, Operatic Tenor W. Jermaine Jackson, and Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer, , also known as Bunny Livingston and affectionately as Jah B, is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh...

's daughter Cen'C Love.

Staff

Susan McCauley is the Principal and Chief Learning Officer of DSA and Pearl Fuller is the Assistant Principal of Instruction and Discipline.

Academic Achievements

The new mock trial team under co-founders Richard Peay and Gillen Heisler and several unnamed attorney, law school student, and teacher coaches, placed third at the Macon Regionals in February 2011.

The school has won many awards and recognitions, including being named a National Blue Ribbon School.