Valerie Biggerstaff 2/9/26 Valerie Biggerstaff 2/9/26

Jim Cherry School of Brookhaven

Jim Cherry Elementary School, at 3007 Hermance Drive was built in 1950 and designed by Wilfred J. Gregson, of Gregson and Ellis Architects. Today the school is DeKalb PATH Academy in Brookhaven.

Valerie Biggerstaff 2/2/26 Valerie Biggerstaff 2/2/26

Oak Grove School, 1916 and 1927

Oak Grove School of DeKalb County is included in the 1916 book, “Educational Surveys of DeKalb County and Union County, Georgia.” Each school has a photo and a general description of the school grounds, building and teachers (or teacher).

Valerie Biggerstaff 1/5/26 Valerie Biggerstaff 1/5/26

Early Georgia teachers trained at “Normal Schools”

Early schoolteachers in Georgia often received their training at what was known as Normal School. Normal Schools were established in Georgia towards the end of the 19th century to prepare teachers to teach elementary aged students. It was usually a two-year program and the term normal referred to establishing clear standards or “norms” for public schools.

Valerie Biggerstaff 10/27/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 10/27/25

Chamblee and Wiley (Wylie) School, 1916 DeKalb school surveys

Another DeKalb County school described in the book is Wiley. Since I was not familiar with Wiley School, I started out by researching the location only to discover I had written about this school before, but under the spelling Wylie.

Valerie Biggerstaff 8/18/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 8/18/25

Redan and Shady Grove Schools 1916

Redan School and Shady Grove Schools are included in the 1916 book, “Educational Surveys of DeKalb County and Union County, Georgia.” I am slowly working my way through the schools in this book.

Valerie Biggerstaff 7/7/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 7/7/25

More DeKalb County schools in survey conducted 1916: Rehoboth and Montreal

The survey book describes Rehoboth School as being a new $2,000 building on one acre, with a few trees and an “ample playground”.

Valerie Biggerstaff 6/23/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 6/23/25

DeKalb County Schools survey 1916, Doraville and Tucker

I recently came across a book online titled “Educational Surveys of DeKalb and Union County Georgia,” dated 1916. It includes photos and short descriptions of all the DeKalb County Schools at the time. I was glad to discover the DeKalb History Center had a copy of the book and went to see it in their archives.