Multilingual families at Dunwoody High School, Chamblee Charter High School and other DeKalb County schools can now sign up for a free, recurring virtual program aimed at helping them support their children's academic success.
The DeKalb County School District's English Learner Department announced the International Parent Engagement Series on Aug. 6, with the first session set for Tuesday, Aug. 25. Sessions will continue on Tuesdays throughout the 2026-27 school year, according to the district's official announcement on X.
The timing matters locally.
At Dunwoody High School, Hispanic students make up the largest single ethnic group at 792 of approximately 2,012 total students, according to National Center for Education Statistics data. At Chamblee Charter High School, 34.1% of the 1,829-student body is Hispanic, per U.S. News rankings for 2025-26.
A fast-growing population
District-wide, the numbers tell a clear story. DCSD's English Learner population has grown from 15,111 students in 2020-21 to 18,902 in 2024-25, now representing 20.4% of all active students, according to the district's EL Master Plan published in June 2025. The EL Department's website says it serves more than 24,000 international students who speak over 174 languages.
Spanish is the dominant home language among those students at 60.7%, followed by Amharic, Swahili, Dari and Arabic. The top countries of origin are Guatemala, Mexico and Afghanistan.
District priority this year
Advancing English Language Learner resources is one of three stated priorities for the 2026-27 school year, alongside literacy expansion and facility modernization. Interim Superintendent Norman Sauce III signaled the broader engagement push on Aug. 3, when he told Atlanta News First on the first day of school: "We're going to be launching what we're calling community engagement teams so that the community can have a seat at the table."
Sauce was speaking about community engagement broadly, not specifically about the EL series. But the EL Master Plan lists strengthening family engagement as a formal goal, with action steps including a quarterly ESOL newsletter and new communication protocols that began in August 2025.
Achievement gaps persist
The series arrives as district data show current English Learners scoring well below non-EL peers on state assessments. In 2023-24, 91% of current high school ELs scored below proficient in math on the Georgia Milestones, compared with 81% of students who were never classified as English Learners.
The district has not yet published the specific session topics, registration link or languages in which the virtual series will be offered. Families seeking more information can contact the DCSD English Learner Department at 678-676-6602 or reach their local school to request an interpreter in their preferred language. The department currently translates district-wide documents into 15 languages.
