Chamblee Charter High School is a public secondary school located in Chamblee, [Georgia (U.S. state)|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 System, having opened in 1917. Chamblee's current principal is Dr. Norman Sauce III.
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 (including Cobb, Gwinnett, and Forsyth). Its 84th percentile ranking is superior to Walton (73rd percentile) 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 22 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.
On December 17, 2012, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced that it had downgraded the DeKalb County Schools System's status from "on advisement" to "on probation" and warned the school system that the loss of their accreditation was "imminent."
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.
1994: Chamblee High was named a National School of Excellence.
2001: Chamblee High was named a State School of Excellence.
2001: Chamblee High became a charter school.
2011: Senior and Sophomore halls were torn down for the rebuilding of the new school.
December 20, 2013: Demolition of the remaining old building started.
January 7, 2014: The new academic building held its first day of 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 DCSS.
The school is adjacent to North Dekalb Stadium, which is used by many sports teams and local schools.
The DCSS 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 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m2) facility began in June 2011 and was to be completed by May 2013. The new completion date is August, 2014.
The Chamblee Bulldogs participate in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. The varsity football team plays their home games at North DeKalb Stadium in Chamblee.
Boys' track: 1954, 1960, 1964
Wrestling: 1974, 1979
Boys Tennis: 1998
Girls' cross country: 1981
Boys' cross country: 1986
Boys' soccer: 2008
Cheerleading: 2007, 2008, 2009
Boys' swimming: 400 free relay (2015), 2015, 200 freestyle (2013, 100 breaststroke) (2008, 50 freestyle)
Girls' swimming: 200 medley relay (1975) (2004, 50 freestyle) (1987, 100 butterfly) (1983, 100 butterfly), (1976, 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle; 1975, 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly; 1974, 200 IM and 100 butterfly) (1974, 500 freestyle), Lanoue (1956, 200 freestyle)
TEAMS (academic competition): 2009, 2010
PAGE Academic Bowl: 1994, 2011
Science Olympiad: 1997, 1998
Math Team: 2003
We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution: 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2012
Chess: 2006, 2007
GearGrinders - FIRST Robotics Team: 2006
Debate 2006, 2007
Odyssey of the Mind: 2004, 2005, 2006
The following schools feed into Chamblee Charter High School:
Ashford Park
Huntley Hills
Montgomery
Kittredge Magnet School
Chamblee Middle School
John Casper (class of 1961) - space shuttle astronaut
Tim Chen (class of 2000) - founder and CEO of NerdWallet
Coleman Collins (class of 2003) - basketball player, writer
J. Max Davis - former mayor of Brookhaven, Georgia
Diana Palmer (class of 1964) - author of 115 romance novels, pen name of Susan Spaeth[
Andy Spiva (class of 1973) - former Atlanta Falcons linebacker
Troy Sadowski (class of 1984) - former Atlanta Falcons tight end
Teresa Tomlinson (class of 1983) - mayor of Columbus, Georgia
Steve Wallace (class of 1982) - former San Francisco 49ers tackle, part of three Super Bowl championships with the San Francisco 49ers (1988, 1989, 1994)
Susan Walters (class of 1981) - actress
