InTucker Magazine

From the Mayor – January 2019

Welcome to 2019! I hope everyone had a happy holiday season and is ready for a great new year. Here at City Hall, our staff is working hard on everything from SPLOST projects to park improvements. It really is an exciting time!

One other exciting thing is this new, expanded newsletter. When our Communications Department raised the idea of doubling the size of our newsletter, my immediate reaction was, “what’s THAT going to cost?” I get positive feedback from all over the community all the time about InTucker and I happen to think it’s award-worthy.

But as you flip through, I think you’re going to see why they wanted to expand, and why it’s worth the investment. I love that we’re now going to have a monthly feature on economic development in the City. There’s so much happening on that front and to be able to share it with you and everyone in our region on a regular basis is a real win.

There’s also going to be a monthly feature on what’s happening in our schools. There’s nothing we can do that has a greater impact on the value of our property than to spread the good news about Tucker’s schools. This month, you’ll get to know a Tucker Middle School teacher who’s mentoring his students in a very unique way (p. 8). One of the things about the seven Tucker Cluster schools is that when you go inside and get to know the students and faculty, you realize how truly blessed we are to have these schools. If you’re not able to visit and see this for yourself, we’re going to take you there in the pages of this newsletter each month. In addition, this feature will give us the opportunity to regularly remind everyone that Tucker is the ideal place to Live, Work, Play, Pray and LEARN.

For those who may be new to Tucker, schools in the City are governed and operated by the DeKalb County School District. We have a good working relationship with Region II Superintendent Trenton Arnold and with our new School Board member Allyson Gevertz. In fact, School Superintendent Dr. Stephen Green lives here in Tucker, and the District’s headquarters is also located in the City. We are truly positioned to lead the way in education.

A couple of our very involved residents organized the Tucker Cluster Council (TCC) in 2017 to identify the interests of our schools as a group and to work directly with DeKalb School leadership for the betterment of the entire Cluster. This effort has been incredibly successful and incredibly inspiring; by getting parents, teachers and administrators from all around the cluster meeting and speaking together with a unified voice, the entire Cluster is being better served.

The whole point of this newsletter is to create a more informed and more engaged group of citizens in Tucker. I hope that you’ll read some of these stories and feel compelled to share the good news about what’s happening in our City.