Chamblee Charter High School, also known as Chamblee High School, is a public secondary school located in Chamblee, Georgia, United States. As of 2010, it serves 1512 students in grades 9-12. It is the second oldest high school of the DeKalb County School District, having opened in 1917. Chamblee is a charter school and therefore accepts students from all of Dekalb County as well as from its local district. Chamblee was named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1996 and is one of 27% of schools in Dekalb to make the AYP of the No Child Left Behind Act. CHS was ranked #215 of the 1500 best public high schools by Newsweek magazine. Its students' SAT scores are ranked first in Dekalb County and sixth in the state. When adjusted for differences in demographics, Chamblee High School has the highest SAT scores of all Atlanta-metro schools. Its 84th percentile ranking is superior to Walton and other suburban counterparts. The student body also has one of the highest acceptance rates to tier 1 colleges and universities in the state of Georgia. The school offers a variety of extracurricular activities, courses, and sports. There are elective performing art classes which are bolstered by performances. CCHS offers 32 AP courses, the most of any high school in Dekalb County, and was named an AP Honor School in 2011 for every category in which it was eligible.
History
Prior to 1917: Chamblee High School and Chamblee Elementary School were housed in a single building on the present site of the First Baptist Church of Chamblee.
1917: DeKalb County authorized the purchase of land for the high school on Chamblee Dunwoody road. Construction began.
1919: The first classes were held in the partially completed school.
1922: M.E. "Prof" Smith was named principal. He served for 35 years.
1924: Ten classrooms and DeKalb County's first gymnasium were added to the campus.
1928: A home economics building was added.
1934: Depression-era WPA funding allowed Chamblee High School to add eight new classrooms, a new gymnasium, a canning plant, and a machine shop. The school became the first in DeKalb County to be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
December 8, 1941: The entire campus burned to the ground. Classes were relocated to area hospitals and Baptist and Methodist churches.
December 1942: The high school was rebuilt and classes resumed on campus.
1950: A lighted general athletic field was built for football and baseball games.
1962: North DeKalb Stadium opened next door to Chamblee High School.
1964: The school was remodeled, adding 19 classrooms and five laboratories.
1966: The new basketball gymnasium, chorus rooms, band rooms, and swimming pool were added.
1970: The old basketball gymnasium and home economics building were demolished. A new cafeteria was built on the site.
1973: The old 1942 classrooms were demolished and a new administration building and library were built.
1991: The first magnet class entered Chamblee High School.
Chamblee High School's main building was last renovated in 1971 and is being pushed fifty percent beyond maximum capacity. In the 2010-2011 school year, an additional 108 students were added to the school under the NCLB, but due to insufficient space, DeKalb diverted these students to an annex of the school, as allowed by the NCLB. These transferred students were in direct violation of Chamblee's charter, as not all of them met its requirements. This was ignored by the DCSD. The school is adjacent to North Dekalb Stadium, which is used by many sports teams and local schools. The DCSD board has approved construction of a new facility due to the poor conditions of CHS's current facility, such as vermin and insect infestations, mold, and inability to renovate. This new facility will use $58 million in federal stimulus bonds as well as $11 million already set aside by the special-purpose local-option sales tax. Construction of the new facility began in June 2011 and was to be completed by May 2013. The new completion date is August, 2014.
Athletics
The Chamblee Bulldogs participate in baseball, basketball, badminton, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, ultimate frisbee, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. The varsity football, lacrosse and soccer teams play their home games at North DeKalb Stadium in Chamblee.
The Blue and Gold is Chamblee Charter High School's official school newspaper. The current faculty advisor of the Blue and Gold is Fred Avett. Currently, the Blue and Gold is published online and in a print format.
Notable alumni
This is a list of notable alumni that graduated from Chamblee Charter High School, sorted by year of graduation.
John Casper, space shuttle astronaut
Diana Palmer, author of 115 romance novels written under several pen names
