From the Principal of the International Community School, Laurent Ditmann, Ph.D….

On Monday, October 10, at their monthly business meeting, the Dekalb County School System (DCSS) board approved the International Community School’s(ICS) requested Letter of Intent to lease the Medlock Elementary School building located at 2418 Wood Trail Lane in Decatur, Georgia.

The decision is a victory for ICS, which has been searching for a new facility for more than five years. To accommodate the school’s growing number of students and staff, the facilities have been split between a main campus within the Avondale Pattillo United Methodist Church in Avondale Estates and a satellite campus housing its fifth and sixth grades in Stone Mountain.

ICS officials will now begin finalizing the lease as well as a financial and logistical plan to support a move during the summer of 2012. The new building has more than 20% more space than the existing split campus, with larger classrooms and such prime amenities as a larger library and media center, an award-winning outdoor garden that serves as an outdoor classroom and a multi-purpose building with a gymnasium.

Notes from the DCSS board meeting state; It is beneficial to the District to have unused facilities occupied and to shift the expense of maintenance and utilities to the charter school. As part of the agreement, the International Community School will be solely responsible for providing any repairs, renovations, building and grounds maintenance and payment of utilities at this facility.

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Since my first post back in June, I’ve heard from more than one trusted anonymous source that Walmart was indeed part of the Suburban Plaza redevelopment plan.  Clairmont Heights Civic Association’s website reports that the property’s owner, Scott Selig, presented at a county community council meeting earlier this week and confirmed that Walmart is part of the plan.  According to the CHCA…

The plan has Walmart as an anchor. Other retailers were approached, but Walmart was apparently the only one with funding and interest. Walmart has offered to place underground all of their parking spaces and to add extensive landscaping. The county has expressed interest in making the N Decatur/Scott/Medlock intersection more pedestrian friendly.

All of this is in-line with what Tomorrow’s News Today originally reported back in June and what I’ve continued to hear from reliable sources who wouldn’t go on the record.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

I just received this press release…

On Saturday, October 22, nearly 40 Decatur restaurants and retail shops will come together in support of 50 Cents. Period, a Decatur-based organization providing support for girls in developing countries and for refugee women in the Atlanta area.

50 Cents. Period’s mission is to help further the education of girls in or from developing countries by providing sanitary products, facilities and health education to young women who would otherwise miss a week of school a month during menstruation for lack of funds. The cost of these sanitary supplies at two pilot schools in Hyderabad, India, is just 50 cents a month per girl.

“50 cents can literally change the future for these girls,” said Ann VanSlyke of Mingei World Arts and a founder of 50 Cents. Period. “Typically, once the girls in poor communities begin their periods, they fall further and further behind in their studies, drop out and start having children. Something so simple as support for issues around menstruation can mean greater access to education, creating pathways out of poverty for whole families.”

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• The BEST article yet on the whole I-85 HOT lane hub-bub [Fresh Loaf]
• Peachtree City burglars use golf carts as getaway vehicles [AJC] 
• Final Open House on Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative – Oct 25th [CHCA]
• Decatur cycling supporters attend GA workshop in Athens [Be Active]
• A spot of tea – and vegetarian haggis – to cure the homesick blues [AsianCajuns]
• Win a giant bag-in-box of wine at the Decatur Wine Fest [Visit Decatur, GA]
• Photo: Chandler Ford automobile dealership in Decatur circa 1941 [GSU]

Photo courtesy of BernardBoyGenius via Flickr

Feel free to use this post to ask questions and make comments about local issues not discussed here the past week.

Comments close on Monday.