Lycee Francais board to meet at new Patton Street campus

The Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans governing board will introduce its new members to the public tonight at a meeting at the school’s new campus at 5951 Patton Street. The meeting will also feature the usual staff members’ reports, according to the agenda:

Agenda for September 10th, 2012 at 6:30pm
5951 Patton Street
1. Call to order
2. Attendance
3. Introduction of new board members
4.

Hurricane Isaac plays havoc with school return plans at Audubon, ISL and ENCORE

While most New Orleans schools had planned to reopen Tuesday after Hurricane Isaac, Audubon Charter School received such extensive damage to both of its campuses that it will remain closed for another week; the International School of Louisiana has postponed reopening until Thursday while it finishes cleaning its campuses; and ENCORE Academy students will return Tuesday to their temporary home at Touro, as the storm delayed completion of their Crocker campus yet again, school officials said. The Carrollton campus of Audubon Charter School already had serious roof leaks, allowing Isaac’s wind and rain to cause substantial problems, and the temporary campus in Gentilly was also damaged, according to the school website:

The Carrollton Campus sustained extensive water/roof damage Hurricane Issac. The Gentilly Campus experienced moderate roof leaks in a number of classrooms. Due to the extent of damages and needed repairs both campuses will remain closed until Monday, September 10, 2012. Maintenance crews will continue to work to ready the buildings as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and support during this challenging time.

Schools closed Monday through Wednesday

Schools under the control of the Recovery School District and the Orleans Parish School Board will be closed Monday through Wednesday in anticipation of Tropical Storm Isaac, officials said. The two entities control most of the public schools, both direct-run and charter, in the New Orleans area. The schools are currently scheduled to reopen Thursday. Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans (chartered directly through the state) had planned to follow the RSD’s lead, said school board president Jean Montes, so he expected Lycee to be closed through Wednesday as well. All three campuses of the International School of Louisiana (also chartered through the state) will close the same days as well, said Head of Schools Sean Wilson.

Lycee Francais prepares for opening of new campus, adds new board members

With a dramatically larger student body expected when school begins Aug. 20, Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans is putting the finishing touches on its new campus, particular with regard to its food service. Meanwhile, as the school board seeks to create a stable governing structure over the coming year, its members appointed three long-time advisers to the school to join them on the board for a year. Enrollment at the school is nearing 340 students for the coming year — up from 127 in the school’s inaugural year — and all the new teachers have been hired and arrived from France, reported general director Jean-Jacques Grandiere at a Wednesday evening meeting of the board. The school building is generally ready and being equipped with wireless Internet, but the staff is waiting for the furniture, he said.

Lycee Francais board to hold Wednesday meeting in anticipation of move to new school

With a busy August anticipated as Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans moves into its new campus at State and Patton streets and prepares for the first day of classes, the school’s board has moved its monthly meeting to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 8). The meeting will be held at the school’s Claiborne campus, 5401 S. Claiborne Avenue. The agenda is as follows, according to an email from the board:

1. Call to order
2.

Lycee Francais board may add three temporary members

Buffeted by the loss of several members as the school enters a second year filled with major changes, the Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans governing board is considering asking three of its long-time advisers to take on a much more active role on a one-year basis. After a series of resignations, the Lycee board is down to six members — only four of whom attended two meetings this week. Board president Jean Montes had previously laid out a plan to create a series of committees that would handle some of the governance work as the new school grows, but said Tuesday night in effect that the board needs more hands on deck now even to get those committees rolling. In the interim, Montes proposed asking three members of the school’s advisory board to join the board as full members with voting privileges for one year while those committees are in place. “The idea would be to activate them for a year,” Montes said.

Plans for second-year growth of Lycee Francais revealed during budget discussion

The French-immersion charter school Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans will partner with KIPP schools to create its first lunch program and welcome its first class of preschoolers funded by state grant money as it spreads to three Uptown campuses in its second year, officials said Monday night. The school is nearly tripling its enrollment next year, and its plans for handling that growth formed the majority of a public hearing on the 2012-13 budget Monday night that took the form of a conversation between board members, the school business manager and a handful of parents and reporters. The budget will be voted on in a separate meeting Tuesday night. Three campuses | The school will spread to three campuses next year: three sections of 3-year-old preschool campuses will remain at the First Presbyterian Church on South Claiborne Avenue, all other grades will be housed at the new St. Francis of Assisi campus at State and Patton streets, and one “rotating” classroom will be maintained at Audubon Zoo as part of the school’s environmental-education partnership with the Audubon Institute, said business manager David Bedell.

Lycee Francais to hold public hearing on 2012-13 budget

Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans will hold a public hearing on the French-immersion charter school’s proposed 2012-13 budget next month, officials announced this week. The board already approved a $3 million budget for the coming year at its June meeting, but a reporter from The Lens questioned whether that meeting had received proper public notice. The board replied that it would research the state laws governing the issue, and this week, announced a public hearing on the budget set for 6:30 p.m. July 9, at its usual meeting place in the First Presbyterian Church at 5401 S. Claiborne Ave. The budget has also been posted on the school’s website, lfno.org.

State officials “satisfied” with Lycee Francais second-grade expansion process

Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans appears to have made a substantial effort to advertise their addition of a second grade next year to low-income and at-risk communities, state education officials said Monday in Baton Rouge. Jim Garvey of Metairie, whose District 1 on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education also represents the Audubon-area neighborhoods where the French-immersion charter school’s campuses are located, led a brief discussion about the issues Monday morning at a meeting of the board’s School Innovation and Turnaround Committee. Raphael Gang, director of the Office of Parental Options at the Louisiana Department of Education, said that his office had monitored LFNO’s process for advertising the openings in the second grade. The school received 36 applications, and held an open lottery for the 30 available spaces, according to the report made available prior to the meeting. Some of the advertising was directed to low-income communities, Gang said, and about a third of the incoming class would be considered at-risk students, Gang said.

Lycee Francais leadership to report on second-grade expansion before state Education board

The leadership of Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans will travel to Baton Rouge on Monday morning to discuss its second-grade expansion with the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The BESE School Innovation and Turnaround Committee (which is chaired by New Orleans-area members Kira Orange Jones and Jim Garvey) includes “a report on the status of Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle Orleans spring enrollment process” on its Monday morning agenda. Lycee Francais board president Jean Montes said in an email that he plans to attend the meeting, and that he is asking the other board members and parent-teacher organization members to attend as well. The summary of the agenda item included with the board materials online is as follows:

At its March meeting, BESE heard a request from Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle Orleans (LFNO) to accelerate its growth and add a second grade for the 2012-2013 school year. As part of their material amendment, the school also requested that their second grade be open enrollment and not include requirements around language proficiency.