Lycée Français plans to open high school in former Priestley building in 2022

It’s been three decades since students and teachers occupied the classrooms of Alfred C. Priestley Junior High School on Leonidas Street. That is expected to change in the 2022-23 school year, when Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans opens the renovated historic building as its new high school. The public French immersion school has been slowly expanding its presence in the Pigeon Town section of Carrollton. It is currently leasing the former James Weldon Johnson school building a few blocks away at 1800 Monroe St. and the former Ronald G. McNair Elementary School at 1607 S. Carrollton Ave.

Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans puts out a call for new board members

The Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans Board of Directors is currently accepting applications for new board members. Lycée Français is a free French immersion public charter school serving all of Louisiana. The type-2 charter school follows the French national curriculum and also adheres to aspects of the Louisiana state curriculum. It is accredited by the French Ministry of Education for French curriculum through grade six and is continuously working toward accreditation for upper levels. It posted this notice for prospective board members on its website:

“If you are interested in shaping the future of Lycée, we encourage you to check out the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools’ website.

Lycée Français eyes McNair Elementary building on Carrollton

The Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orleans board voted Monday to submit a letter of interest to acquire the soon-to-be-closed McNair campus in the Carrollton neighborhood. The ReNEW charter system was operating two programs at the former Ronald G. McNair Elementary School at 1607 S. Carrollton Ave.: a pre-kindergarten program and a therapeutic day program for children with behavioral disorders. A report by Marta Jewson in The Lens states ReNEW quietly made plans to close the campus and send the day program students, described on the ReNEW website as third- to fifth-grade “students with complex socioemotional and behavioral needs,” to ReNEW Schaumburg, about 12 miles away in New Orleans East. ReNEW informed the district in March that it was vacating the building, The Lens reports, although the McNair programs were listed on OneApp for the 2019-20 school year. Lycée Français, meanwhile, has been in expansion mode as it adds one grade per year in its quest to become the nation’s first tuition-free pre-K through 12th grade French immersion school.

Lycée Français receives $100,000 gift for renovation of Priestley campus

The public French immersion school Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans has received a lead gift of $100,000 from Jim and Catherine MacPhaille. These funds are a donation to the recently launched Room to Grow campaign, a campaign to raise funds for the renovation of the Priestley building, which will house Lycée’s high school program. Lycée Français is on track to become the first tuition-free pre-K through 12th grade public French curriculum program in the United States by 2024. As the school adds a grade per year, the need for additional space grows. In 2015, Lycée Français purchased the historic Alfred C. Priestley Junior High School building at 1619 Leonidas St.