Education

OPSB To Take Over Cypress Academy, Keep School Open One More Year

By • May 22, 2018
Cypress Academy leaders shocked parents when they announced three days before the end of the school year that they won't be reopening in the fall.
Jess Clark / WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio

New Orleans charter school Cypress Academy may not close after all. On Tuesday afternoon, the Orleans Parish School Board announced it plans to take over operations at Cypress so the school can remain open for the 2018-2019 school year. The news follows parent outrage after Cypress gave parents three days notice the school would be closing at the end of this school year.

Cypress Academy Announces Closure, Leaves Parents Scrambling

By • May 21, 2018
Cypress Academy leaders shocked parents when they announced three days before the end of the school year that they won't be reopening in the fall.
Jess Clark / WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio

On Sunday night, just three days before the end of the school year, Jenny Schecter got a text from a friend saying their kids' charter school, Cypress Academy, was closing.

"My husband and I opened up the computer, read the email, and I just immediately started crying," Schecter said. 

Q&A: How New Orleans Schools Created A Segregated City

By • May 17, 2018
Race and Education in New Orleans traces the history of education back to 1764.
Courtesy of Walter C. Stern

When talking about the history of education in this New Orleans, school reformers often point to the problems in the school system in the decades before Hurricane Katrina: financial mismanagement, corruption and abysmal graduation rates. But one education researcher has recently written a book taking a longer view. 

Louisiana's Graduation Rate Reaches New Heights, New Orleans Still Lags Behind

By • May 10, 2018
The state's high school graduation rate rose to 78 percent. New Orleans area schools have a 72 percent graduation rate.
Wikimedia Commons

The state's high school graduation rate is the highest it’s ever been, according to new data released by the Louisiana Department of Education. The class of 2017 - seniors who graduated last year - had a 78.1 percent graduation rate, up from 77 percent for the class of 2016. But schools in the New Orleans area still lag behind.

Einstein’s Kids Are Being Bused To School, But Families Say There Are Bumps In The Road

By & Marta Jewson • Apr 26, 2018
Einstein parent Yanys Rozhez missed work to drive his son to a safer bus stop.
Jess Clark / WWNO

The battle between Einstein Charter Schools and the Orleans Parish School Board over getting kids to school appeared to be over when yellow buses started running last week.

But for families who must navigate bus stops along busy roads in eastern New Orleans, the journey isn’t over. As WWNO reports in collaboration with The Lens, parents say buses stop at inconvenient locations that are dangerous to get to.  

To Keep Schools, Einstein Agrees To Provide Buses And Pay Back Parents

By • Apr 20, 2018
OPSB has begun the process of revoking Einstein Charter Schools' right to run two elementary schools.
Jess Clark / WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio

The Orleans Parish School Board has settled a months-long dispute with Einstein Charter Schools over busing.

'Nation's Report Card' Shows Louisiana Students Slipping

By • Apr 11, 2018

Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "The National's Report Card," show Louisiana student achievement dropping over the last two years. Every two years, the U.S. Department of Education tests a nationally representative group of fourth and eighth grade students in math and reading.

New Orleans Educator Says No To Suspension To Keep Students Alive And In School

By • Apr 10, 2018
Abramson Sci Dean of Students Cornelius Dukes (right) has mentored senior Walter Bell (left) since the fifth grade. Now Bell is headed to the University of Southern Mississippi.
Collegiate Academies

Schools in New Orleans are looking for alternatives to suspension. At some schools, that alternative is called restorative practices — students and teachers sit down together, talk it out, and come up with a plan to prevent future conflicts. Cornelius Dukes runs restorative practices at Abramson Sci Academy.

In Central City, Students Add Their Voices To The Post-Parkland Conversation On Guns

By • Apr 4, 2018
Fifteen-year-old Zianca Bailey wants to change gun laws to reduce gun deaths. She helped organize the March for Our Lives to end gun violence.
Jess Clark / WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio

Pastor Lisa Fitzpatrick spends every weeknight at an old Catholic school building in Central City. Tonight she’s sliding slices of pizza onto paper plates for about a dozen hungry teenagers.

Einstein Charter Schools May Start Busing Students After Charters Threatened

By • Mar 27, 2018
Einstein Charter School's board says they'll work on a transportation plan that could include yellow-bus transportation.
Jess Clark / WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio

Einstein Charter Schools appears to be backing down in its months-long dispute with the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) over busing. The Einstein charter school board has voted to work out a transportation plan that could include yellow buses. The decision came days after the district threatened to revoke Einstein's right to run two of their schools.

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