City Schools of Decatur Planning Services 2007 – 2015

Project Location: Decatur, Georgia

Date: 2007 – 2017

Sizemore worked with the City of Decatur Schools between 2003 and 2015. When we first worked with the Decatur System, their school population was declining. Parents preferred local private schools and the system of neighborhood schools was too expensive to operate at a high level of educational programming.

The new superintendent, Dr. Phyllis A. Edwards. Ed. D., worked with Sizemore Group to close two of the elementary schools and to completely revamp the educational program to include limited Pre-K, a project-based curriculum, site based management and a high school education which was career based and college ready. The process was rigidly data driven and empirically based on successful programs found throughout the nation. School capacity and facilities conditions were provided by Sizemore Group to give the system the data they needed to present options to the community. We also provided Demographics based on birth rate and cohort survival to allow the modeling of various school zones and grade level distributions. In the end, the system had three K-3 schools, a 4-5, Middle and high school and they started building.

Within four years the word began to circulate that the Decatur School system was becoming the best in the area. Soon the school age population began to grow. During the recession, as the population of other districts surrounding Decatur fell, Decatur grew. People were moving to Decatur to enroll in the public schools. In another four years, the closed schools were reopened, and additions were planned for the High School and the Middle School. The President visited Decatur to meet with the Superintendent to bring attention to the high quality of Decatur’s Pre-K school. In 2016, a new elementary school and a new Pre-K have been announced, and the school age population continues to grow.

• 2300-4600 students 2003-2015
• Projected FTE to 6500 by 2020

Services

• Demographics, Facilities Capacity, Facilities Assessments, Construction Cost Estimating, School Operations Costs, School Programming and Community Meetings

Project Location: Union City, Georgia

Project Scope: 70,000 sf $16.6 million

Completion Date: 2010

This facility is the first non-profit owned Charter Career Academy in Georgia. It was designed as a LEED building to be built in eight months, from “we need a building but we don’t have a site”, to move-in with all the furniture and technology needed for a future oriented course of study. The Ninth Grade Academy (15,000 sf) was the first element of Hapeville Charter Career Academy’s High School. It was also one of the first five charter academy’s to receive a grant for construction from the State of Georgia. The Ninth Grade Academy was converted into an Eighth Grade Academy as part of a second phase of construction including a larger, 55,000 s.f. high school building.

Five areas of professional certifications are provided in conjunction with Atlanta Technical College including Avionics Technician, Paralegal, Patient Care Assisting, Dental Assisting and Front-end Alignment / Brakes / Steering Systems.

Services

• Programming
• Master Planning
• Architecture
• Interior Design
• Program Management
• LEED Consulting and Documentation

Award Winner: 1st Place – AGC Build Georgia Awards Program, 2010