2013 Valedictorians, Salutatorians at Chamblee, Cross Keys High Schools

DeKalb county school district released the names of this year's valedictorians and salutatorians.

Monica Agrawal is Chamblee Charter High School's magnet valedictorian and Christa Kelly is the school's resident valedictorian this year. In addition, Chamblee's magnet salutatorian is Andrew Tsao, who is Georgia Tech-bound and planning to major in engineering. Chamblee's resident salutatorian is Kevin Reagan, who plans to major in marine biology at the University of Miami. At Cross Keys High School, Pomona College-bound Ranulfo Ramos-Santos is the valedictorian, and Najdat Zohbi, who is headed to Emory University, is the salutatorian. The DeKalb county school district released the names Tuesday. Agrawal, a National Merit finalist, plans to study engineering at either Stanford or Princeton, according to information from the school district…

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Cross Keys High Girls Suspended After Locker Room Piercing Incident

The students were suspended for 10 days.

Four girls at Cross Keys High School have been suspended after receiving a series of piercings in the girls' locker room in April. A girl came to school with a piercing kit and offered her services to the girls, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Instead of going to lunch, the girls headed to the girls' locker room to have their tongue, lip and navels pierced. From the story: “And she used the same needle on that one girl that she did on the other girl,” the 14-year-old told Channel 2. Days later, the mother of one of the girls alerted school officials about the piercing sand the girls were all suspended for 10 days, according to Channel 2. Read the full story for more information.

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Cross Keys Foundation President Named 'Community Hero'

Kim Gokce will be honored Sunday along with other Community Heroes from across DeKalb County.

Cross Keys Foundation President Kim Gokce has been named a Community Hero by the DeKalb County government. Gokce, who leads the organization that supports Cross Keys High School, will be honored at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on Sunday with other Community Heroes from across the county, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also named Volunteer of the Year by the YMCA of Metro Atlanta this month as well. Gokce was also a member of the Brookhaven Commission after residents voted last year to become a city. Here's some previous Patch coverage of Gokce:

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7 Local High School Students Finalists for Governor's Honors Program

Selected participants in the residential summer program for gifted and talented high school juniors and seniors will spend four weeks at Valdosta State University.

DeKalb County School District announced Tuesday that the following students at Chamblee Charter and Cross Keys high schools are among 36 in the district selected as finalists for the Georgia Governor's Honors Program: From Chamblee Charter - Swapnil Agrawal, Mathematics Sounak Das, German Kunal Goel, German Solina Jean-Louis, German Lizaremi Luna-Sousa, Biology Kavi Pandian, Social Studies From Cross Keys - Cristian Padilla, Social Studies Selected participants in the The Governor's Honors Program, which is a residential summer program for gifted and talented high school juniors and seniors, will spend four weeks at Valdosta State University. This summer's  program will be its 50th. It is the longest continually running program of its kind…

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Beta Club Blood Drive at Cross Keys High School

Join Cross Keys students and faculty in the Beta Club's annual Blood Drive on March 26,from approximately 8:20 - 1:00pm.

More Than 100 Attend Cross Keys Foundation Civic Forum

Public and private officials pledged to work together to improve education and facilities at Cross Keys High, Woodward Elementary and other Brookhaven schools.

More than 100 people attended Cross Keys Foundation's first-ever civic forum on Tuesday night, a number that "overwhelmed" organizer Kim Gokce. "We had a good mix of folks from the single-family homes and Park Towne North families," Gokce said. Here is his report on the event: "The dialog was facilitated by Maria Duarte, spokesperson for Azteca Atlanta TV channel and a Brookhaven resident, and myself. Brookhaven City Manager Marie Garrett and Mayor J. Max Davis were present, as was District 4 city councilman Joe Gebbia and Board of Education District 2 member Marshall Orson. "The dialog portion lasted for 1:45 and was very productive. A significant focus was on code compliance and reporting processes in response to questions from …

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Cross Keys Grad Makes Dean's List

Katherine Narvaez is enrolled at Mary Baldwin College.

Cross Keys High School graduate Katherine Narvaez recently made the Dean's List at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia.  While at Cross Keys, Narvaez received the Ribbon of Meritorious Service as leader of Cross Keys' NJROTC, the highest award for an individual cadet. She is also currently enrolled in a Virginia Military Academy training program.

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Chamblee, Cross Keys Earn Advanced Placement Honors

The two schools earned honors for testing and participation among minorities.

The Georgia Department of Education has announced the 2013 Advanced Placement (AP) Honors Schools, and our communities’ two high schools made the list. Chamblee Charter High School was named as merit school, meaning at least 20 percent of its student population took the AP exam and at least 50 percent of those exams scoring three (3) or higher. Chamblee and Cross Keys High School both had at least 30 percent of their exams taken by African American and/or Hispanic students, and 30 percent of those earning a score of three (3) or higher. Chamblee also made a list of schools that had students testing in at least two AP math courses, and two AP science courses.

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Endeavour Solar Car to Make Victory Trip

The Endeavour Solar Racing Team is bringing their award-winning solar car to Cross Keys High School this Saturday.

Earlier this month, the DeKalb County Student Engineering Team was preparing to make history as the first solar car racing team made up entirely of high schoolers form Georgia. With their car Endeavour in tow, the team traveled to Texas for the Winston Solar Challenge, held from July 14 to 19. Now, the race is over, the team has an award and they want to show Endeavour to the community. The team, which was the sole representative from Georgia and the entire Southeast in the challenge, won the Guntis Terauds award. This award is given to a team that shows courage in the face of engineering issues. They will show off Endeavour at a few different locations this Saturday, July 28. First, the car will be on display at Cross Keys High School …

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Student Engineering Team Off to the Races at Winston Solar Challenge

Many of the students involved in the project are from Chamblee and Cross Keys high schools.

The DeKalb County Student Engineering Team is preparing to make history as the first team from Georgia to race a handmade, solar-powered car in the Winston Solar Challenge. The challenge, a solar-powered vehicle competition among high school engineering teams, will kick off on July 14 at the Texas Motor Speedway near Dallas. The DeKalb student engineering team unveiled the body and parts for their vehicle in a press conference at Cross Keys High School. While many of the team's students are from Cross Keys, the team also includes representatives from Dunwoody High, Chamblee High and the Fernbank Science Center. Endeavour Solar Racing Team, as the team is calling themselves, has been hard at work assembling the car at Middle Georgia …

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