French consul Gregor Trumel speaks as Lycee CEO Keith Bartlett listens Sept. 15 at the ribbon cutting for the school’s newest location at Central St. Matthew UCC on South Carrollton Avenue. (via Lycee Francais on Facebook)
After starting classes at its new temporary location on South Carrollton Avenue this fall, Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans is already looking for ways to maximize its use of the space as the school continues to grow, officials said this week. Continue reading »
The McDonogh 7 building, photographed in May 2013, is home to Audubon Charter’s upper school. (UptownMessenger.com file photo)
By Claire Byun
Audubon Charter is considering expanding to a third location, but school officials stressed Saturday morning that the expansion is “only an idea” at this point. Continue reading »
U.S. Secretary of Education John King discusses an experiment on soil samples with students Shamon Gurley and Jordyn Smith in Ariee Smith’s AP Environmental Science class. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
When U.S. Secretary of Education John King visited Walter Cohen College Prep High School on Friday afternoon in recognition of its dramatic increase in test scores, former board member Kenneth Polite asked him one of the most difficult questions facing the New Orleans education landscape: Why are the city’s public schools so segregated, and what can make them more diverse? Continue reading »
The building at 4310 Magazine Street will become an expansion of Ecole Bilingue, as Peaches Records has now moved into the larger building next door. (image via Google)
The former Top Drawer annex building on Magazine Street will become an expansion site for Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orleans, and the school will hold a meeting tonight to share its plans with neighbors. Continue reading »
A rendering of the play yard planned for Stuart Hall School for Boys on South Carrollton Avenue (via City of New Orleans)
The house at 2014-2018 South Carrollton will be demolished to make way for the play yard. (via City of New Orleans)
Stuart Hall School for Boys easily won approval for its plan to replace a vacant home on South Carrollton Avenue with a new play yard, even though the request renewed neighbors’ complaints about traffic that have been festering for more than a decade. Continue reading »
Danae Columbus
As Election Day grows closer, there is lots of political jockeying at the national and local level. Hillary Clinton has decided to be more open about her health, Donald Trump is calling for paid maternity leave and tax credits for working parents, and Sept. 16 birthday boy Governor John Bel Edwards is making progress after two relatively successful trips to Washington to help flood victims. Continue reading »
Eboni Walker (right) shows off a brightly painted classroom at the Hoffman site to New Orleans College Prep board members during a campus tour in October 2015. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Building on an experiment in mixed-income preschool classes launched this year, the New Orleans College Prep charter-school network plans to expand its Hoffman campus to serve 228 students from ages 0 to 4 starting next year, officials said Monday. Continue reading »
Chunlin Leonhard was removed by her colleagues from the governing board of Lusher Charter School this weekend amid continuing fallout over the effort earlier this year to create a teacher’s union, and the school board will have a new president as well, according to a report by The Lens. Continue reading »
Sandra Stokes of the Louisiana Landmarks Society speaks in front of the Carrollton Courthouse on Wednesday, June 24. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
The Orleans Parish School Board plans to ask the city to allow a wider use of land-use options on the Carrollton Courthouse property in preparation for its upcoming sale, drawing a range of reactions from neighbors and preservationists this week. Continue reading »
The current site plan for the Lycee Francais renovations of the Priestley campus in Carrollton. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Acknowledging that the plan is “ambitious,” Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans officials believe they can renovate the former Priestley school campus in Carrollton in time to move in by January 2019, they told neighbors on Wednesday night. Continue reading »
(via nola.gov)
The New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORDC) will host two Back to School Fall Expos on Saturday, August 13, where families can learn more about NORDC Fall programming, activities and upcoming events such as Athletics, Youth and Teen Programs, Fitness, Dance, Arts, and more. The Fall Expo for the Uptown area will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lyons Recreation Center, 624 Louisiana Avenue, and it is free and open to the public. Continue reading »
Jim McPhaille examines the Priestley gym during a walk-through by Lycee Francais officials in June 2014. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
School leaders at Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans have decided to renovate the old gym at the Priestley campus in Carrollton rather than demolish it, and are even considering returning it to use even prior to the rest of the campus, they said Monday evening as they prepare to meet with neighbors about their plans on Wednesday. Continue reading »
Ben Kleban (center) discusses his plans for his remaining months at New Orleans College Prep with members of the administration and board at a meeting on Thursday afternoon. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
New Orleans College Prep founder Ben Kleban will depart from the charter organization before the end of the year to avoid a conflict of interest when his term on the Orleans Parish School Board begins in 2017, but plans to focus in part on adding another Uptown school to the organization’s portfolio before he leaves. Continue reading »
Ben Kleban (left), founder of NOLA College Prep, and Jamar McKneely, CEO of Inspire NOLA charter schools, share a laugh during an April 20 forum on school unification hosted by 100 Black Men of New Orleans. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Robert Morris)
Ben Kleban, the founder of the New Orleans College Prep network of charter schools, is now the unopposed candidate for the open Uptown-based District 5 seat on the Orleans Parish School Board after his lone opponent withdrew from the race. Continue reading »
Prospective board members Gary Solomon, George Wilson and Quentin Messer attend a meeting of the Lusher Charter School governance committee on Wednesday morning. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Lusher Charter School is considering adding three new members to its governing board, and may need a fourth after another recent resignation, officials said Wednesday morning. Continue reading »
Surrounded by his family, Ben Kleban files to run for a seat on the Orleans Parish School Board. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Woody Koppel
The founder of the New Orleans College Prep charter network qualified Wednesday morning to run for the open District 5 seat on the Orleans Parish School Board, and current school board member Woody Koppel also filed for re-election in his District 6. Continue reading »
Seth Bloom
Seth Bloom, who has represented a large swath of Uptown on the Orleans Parish School Board for eight years, will not run for re-election this fall, he announced Tuesday evening — leaving his seat open a day before candidates begin qualifying for the election. Continue reading »
Lycee Francais board member Ann Meese shares a laugh with Grégor Trumel, Consul General of France in New Orleans, and fellow Lycee board member Ben Castoriano in February 2015. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
The Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans governing board created a formal policy Monday night banning any parents or grandparents of current students from serving as board members, causing the abrupt departure of one of their own in a contentious end to a long-running conversation over the best model for the school’s leadership. Continue reading »
(Via NOCP)
New Orleans College Prep (NOCP), the school network that includes Walter L. Cohen and Lawrence D. Crocker Schools, was recently awarded a $1 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
With the assistance of the grant, NOCP plans to continue to grow the performance of its schools over the next three years.
NOCP plans to devote grant money to expand the number of students served, strengthen both the cultural competency and overall performance of teachers and staff, bolster socioemotional learning and supports for students, and enhance parent engagement initiatives.
Cohen College Prep students march through New Orleans. (image via nolacollegeprep.org)
With an increasingly competitive landscape for high school students, Cohen College Prep has an offer that school leaders hope will convince students to give them another look: Any freshmen who enrolls next year will receive a $500 scholarship upon graduation. Continue reading »
