Druid Hills / Candler Park: Roundabouts on Ponce and Festival Vibes

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Good morning, Druid Hills and Candler Park neighbors! It's been a bit of a rollercoaster week with a shock school closure leaving local families in adjacent neighborhoods scrambling, but we've got the ultimate silver lining: the Spring Festival on Ponce is finally back this weekend.

- News — From a bombshell school closure to water main breaks and Senior Olympics tryouts, we have quite a variety of stories this week.
- Business — A West Coast coffee favorite lands at Sage Hill and Mulberry Fields goes independent.
- Events — Clear your schedule for the Festival on Ponce, speed puzzling at the library, or a "Spring Break Safari" for the kids.
- Government — Atlanta school officials are handing out teacher stipends, upgrading bus cameras, and securing a long-term home for local youth soccer.
- Construction — Between new roundabouts coming to Ponce and a pothole "suspension-killer" on Oakdale Road, our commutes are in for some major changes.

Let's dive in.

NEWS

Metro Atlanta schools stepping in to help after abrupt closure of Midtown International School (April 03, 2026) This one is a total bombshell for our neighborhood parents. Midtown International School in Druid Hills pulled the plug on Friday, leaving about 150 students without a school home just days before Spring Break. Other local schools are already scrambling to open up spots, but the sudden "it's over" announcement has families feeling completely blindsided.

DeKalb County fixing 30-inch main break in Greater Decatur (April 05, 2026) If your shower pressure felt more like a sad drizzle this morning, blame the 30-inch main break that DeKalb crews have been battling since Sunday. The significant rupture near Decatur has been a mess for local water service and traffic alike. Fingers crossed the "boil water" advisories don't follow, but maybe keep some bottled water handy just in case.

Registration open for 37th Annual DeKalb County Senior Olympics (April 05, 2026) Think you've got what it takes to bring home the gold? Registration just opened for the Senior Olympics, and it's open to anyone 50 or older who's ready to show off their athletic (or billiards) prowess. The games don't start until May, but the neighborhood bragging rights start as soon as you sign up.

BUSINESS

Mulberry Fields - relocating - Our favorite hidden meadow and goat-friendly garden in Candler Park is flying solo after a decade-long partnership with the Wylde Center. (March 30, 2026)

Midtown International School - closing - Heartbreaking news for the families at this tight-knit Druid Hills campus—doors are closing for good this Friday after more than a decade of serving gifted students. (March 31, 2026)

San Francisco Coffee - opening - Your caffeine routine at Sage Hill is getting a West Coast upgrade later this summer, and we're already eyeing the patio potential for those sunny Druid Hills mornings. (April 02, 2026)

EVENTS

This is the one you've been waiting for: the annual Spring Festival on Ponce returns to Olmsted Linear Park this weekend! Clear your Saturday and Sunday for local art, sunshine, and the inevitable dog-watching that makes Druid Hills so special this time of year.

Monday, April 06
- Spring Break Safari Camp at the Zoo | Zoo Atlanta
- Outdoor Art Lab Spring Break Camp | Historic Oakland Cemetery
- Speed Puzzling Competition | Decatur Library

Tuesday, April 07
- Remember Sports | Aisle 5
- Sound Of Music (Touring) | Fox Theatre - Atlanta

Wednesday, April 08
- City of the Sun | Aisle 5
- Zoning Committee Meeting April | Candler Park
- Snarky Puppy | The Eastern
- Lunch & Learn: Georgia's State Historic Sites with Jennifer W. Dickey | Historic DeKalb Courthouse
- Angela Autumn | The EARL

Thursday, April 09
- Golf with Seniors on the Green Candler Park | Candler Park
- Sustainable Landscaping Volunteer Day | Legacy Park
- Candlelight: Tribute to D'Angelo | The Chapel on Sycamore

Friday, April 10
- Fernbank After Dark: Booze & Botanicals | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- JOE MAZZARI'S "East Coast Thunder Band" & 61 GHOSTS & The Queers | Star Community Bar
- Puppy Prov with Angels Among Us | Dad's Garage
- Candlelight: Best of Bridgerton on Strings | The Chapel on Sycamore
- The Taylor Party: Taylor Swift Night | 18+ | The Masquerade

Saturday, April 11
- Spring Festival on Ponce Returns to Olmsted Linear | Olmsted Linear Park
- Black Maternal Health Walk & Community Fair | Candler Park
- Walk Druid Hills | Druid Hills
- Live Animal Encounter | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- TAYLOR ALXNDR & Evan Flow & geexella | Star Community Bar
- Front Paige Media's Book Fair | New Realm Brewing
- Food & Street Art Tour on the Atlanta Beltline | 99 Krog St NE

Sunday, April 12
- Field Trip: How to read a Forest at Deepdene Park | Deepdene Park
- Meet a Ranger | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- Live Animal Encounter | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- dogism & Maniax & Nadafinger | Pizza Verdura Sincera
- NFA Burger x BeetleCat Pop-Up | BeetleCat
- Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss - The Escape Game | Decatur Library
- New South Festival Singers, Andrew Cain Memorial Masterworks Concert | Holy Trinity Parish Episcopal Church

GOVERNMENT

Note: it’s an unusually quiet week as many governing bodies take spring break; if you’re new here, you can see what this section usually looks like in prior issues

Past Week Roundup

Atlanta Board of Education
The Board focused heavily on long-term infrastructure and staff this week. To address retention, officials approved a new "Appreciation Stipend" for employees, emphasizing the need to keep talent within the district. On the facilities side, a significant wave of renovations is coming as the Board greenlit a major design-build contract spanning five separate school sites, authorized a full replacement of the Metropolitan Transportation System—the hub for the district's logistics and vehicles—and approved a shared parking agreement to ease congestion near school campuses. Safety is also getting a tech upgrade: the entire fleet of yellow school buses will soon be equipped with new camera systems to monitor traffic violations and student activity. The Board also moved to support local youth sports by approving a 10-year lease and development agreement with Inter Atlanta Football Club for the fields at Howard Middle School. Other notable approvals included kitchen modernizations at Phoenix Academy and extra funding for ongoing HVAC upgrades at M. Agnes Jones Elementary to keep up with rising construction costs.

CONSTRUCTION

Permits
- 1124 DeKalb Ave NE — Keep your ears open for some racket across from the MARTA tracks. A commercial building here is getting a major roof overhaul, swapping out metal panels for new insulation and membranes.
- 257 Casson St NE — Looks like some boundary updates are coming to Lake Claire. A multi-family property is bringing in Bravo Fence to replace their current setup.
- The Neighborhood Pulse — It's a fairly sleepy week for the heavy machinery. We have 25 minor residential permits floating around totaling about $46,512. The most common activity? Six single-family projects and five "dead, dying, or hazardous" trees getting the axe. Watch your head out there!

Road Work

Under Construction
- SR 42/Moreland Avenue at Arkwright Place — This intersection is becoming a "right-in/right-out" zone. GDOT is putting in a median to kill off those tricky left turns, so if you usually use this spot to shortcut between Moreland and the neighborhood, you'll need to find a new way to pivot.
- SR 260/Memorial Drive Pedestrian Improvements — You'll see crews working at several spots including Haas, Eastside, Brownwood, and Joseph Avenues. They are installing those push-button flashing beacons (RRFBs) to make crossing Memorial significantly less of a daredevil feat. Expect some shoulder work and quick lane shifts while they get these wired up.
- I-20 Lighting Upgrades (DeKalb & Fulton Counties) — Spanning across the county line from Capitol Avenue out to Flat Shoals Road, this project is all about visibility. They're swapping out old, dim bulbs for bright LEDs and replacing aging poles. Most of the work is concentrated on the lighting infrastructure, so watch for nighttime lane closures if you're heading toward East Atlanta after dark.

Construction Work Program
- SR 8/SR 10/US 23 @ Lullwater Creek (DeKalb County) — Ponce is getting some bridge maintenance right over Lullwater Creek. Keep this on your radar if you usually cruise past the Paideia School to get to work; bridge work often means some lane-narrowing fun.
- SR 8/US 23 from South Ponce De Leon Ave to Ridgecrest Road (DeKalb County) — This stretch of Ponce is slated for drainage improvements. It's all about preventing those deep puddles that turn the neighborhood into a lake during summer downpours.
- SR 8 from East Lake Road to North Ponce De Leon Ave (DeKalb County) — Heads up: roundabouts are coming to the Ponce corridor! Specifically, one at the East Lake intersection and another at North Ponce/Parkwood. This is going to totally change the rhythm of the commute between Lake Claire and Druid Hills.
- SR 8/US 23 @ SR 42 (DeKalb & Fulton Counties) — The big intersection at Ponce and Moreland is getting operational upgrades, including extended turn lanes. Since this spans the county line, expect a bit of extra coordination and likely some heavy equipment hanging out at one of our busiest corners.
- DeKalb Avenue @ CSX Crossing (DeKalb County) — We're getting new railroad crossing warning devices near the CSX line. Anything that makes the DeKalb Avenue gauntlet a little safer for cars and bikes is a win in our book.
- Scott Blvd Complete Streets Plan (DeKalb County) — This "Complete Streets" plan is in the works for Scott Blvd. It's still in the early stages, but the goal is to make this high-speed stretch a lot more friendly for everyone, not just cars.
- SR 42/US 23 from DeKalb Ave to Austin Ave (DeKalb County) — There's a "road diet" in the scoping phase for Moreland Ave. They're looking at narrowing those 11.5-foot lanes down to 10 feet to help calm traffic through the heart of the neighborhood.
- Atlanta Ave @ Adair Street Realignment (DeKalb County) — This project aims to fix the awkward jumble where Atlanta Ave meets Adair Street at the railroad crossing. Realignment should make that whole "who goes first?" dance a lot less stressful.

Service Requests
- Potholes — A major cluster on Oakdale Rd NE (seven reports!), plus sightings at the intersection of Oakdale & Ponce, Iverson St & Mell Ave, and Almeta Ave NE. Oakdale residents, your suspension is in our thoughts and prayers.
- Traffic Signal Repairs — Reports of signals acting up at the intersections of N Decatur Rd & Briarcliff Rd NE and Oakdale Rd & Ponce de Leon Ave. Stay alert and keep those eyes on the road while the city works on the fix.