Martin Luther King, Jr. High School (Lithonia, Georgia)

Martin Luther King Jr. High School is a public high school located in Lithonia, Georgia, United States. It opened in August 2001 as the newest high school in the DeKalb County School System, and was named after the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.DevelopmentThe school was opened to alleviate overcrowding in surrounding middle schools. It originally included only grades 6-7 and 9-10. Tenth grade students came from Lithonia and Southwest DeKalb High Schools to relieve crowding and also due to the rezoning of DeKalb County. The following year, after a protest by the high school students, the school dropped the sixth and seventh graders and added eighth grade. It became a pure high school with grades 9-12 in the 2003-2004 school year.MLK's current principal is Harvey.Feeder schoolSalem Middle School is the middle school feeder to MLK.International Baccalaureate DiplomaMLK implemented the International Baccalaureate Diploma program during the 2004-2005 school year, and it continues to produce top students each year.Awards and recognitionThe MLK marching band received superior ratings at the District Band Festival, and superior ratings in the county marching competition. The MLK marching band has traveled to South Africa (2006) and the AT&T Cotton Bowl, and has also participated in the 2011 Bands of America with their Wind Ensemble. The band attended the Ohio State Buckeye Invitational in 2014.