It's only November, but some students and families are already thinking about the next school year. That's because OneApp – the city's school enrollment process – launched today. Students entering the public school system for the first time or hoping to transfer to a new school can review their options and submit one application with their top choices.
This year's application includes 47 Pre-K programs, up from 32 last year. That number will continue to grow. Starting next fall, all publicly funded preschool and child care programs have to participate in a centralized enrollment system, as part of a statewide move to revamp early childhood programming. Right now, there's no central enrollment process all early child programs. There's not even a comprehensive list.
“We've made great progress in having a unified enrollment process in New Orleans,” says Patrick Dobard, Superintendent of the Recovery School District. “We felt like that system really works for our K-12 students and we just wanted to make sure that we gave our families of our youngest learners the same opportunity.”
Sonjia Brown-Joseph runs Clara's Little Lambs Preschool. She says the new system will help parents get a better feel for what's out there. But families can only learn so much from a paper application.
“We want to make sure that this still has that personal touch where parents are actually coming in, visiting the center, seeing it, making sure that it is a good fit for them and their family,” she says.
Support for education reporting on WWNO comes from Baptist Community Ministries and Entergy Corporation.