Mid-City Neighborhood Organization

The Education Committee prepared the following response to the School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish. This response was approved by the MCNO Board and was submitted to the planners, to become part of the official public comments.

–Jeannette Thompson, Co-Chair, Education/Library Committee, MCNO

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Warren Easton Senior High will hold an Open House for prospective students on Tuesday, December 4, 5-7 pm at Warren Easton in the Auditorium (2nd Floor) at 3019 Canal St. For more information, contact Easton at (504) 304-4129 or go to their website.

Many thanks to Lili LeGardeur, Angie Brennecke and Brenda Napolitano for compiling this index of daycare facilities in Mid-City.

Information was obtained between October 29-Nov. 2, 2007. We’ll try to update after the new year.

In advance of the Mid-City Neighborhood meeting November 5th which focused on education, we asked State Superintendent of Education Paul Vallas and Superintendent of the Recovery School District Paul Vallas and their staff to answer the following 10 questions. The following answers were put together by the “Two Pauls” and their staff. Overall I would say that the answers they provided show us that we have a long way to go for our community to have a strong voice in decision making regarding our neighborhood’s schools. But I do thank Paul Vallas for attending the meeting (Paul Pastorek couldn’t make it due to an earlier surgery), and I do thank them for their answers even if they aren’t all satisfactory.
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At our next community meeting we will focus on public education in Mid-City. Joining us will be State Superintendent of Education, Paul Pastorek, and Superintendent of the Recovery School District, Paul Vallas. We will also be joined by representatives of the various public schools in Mid-City: Dibert, Warren Easton, Esperanza (formerly Crossman), Langston Hughes Academy, and Pierre A. Capdau-UNO Early College High School (both at Thurgood Marshall).

Monday, November 5, 2007, 6:30 PM at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street

Neighborhoods Partnership Network is sponsoring a forum which will try to answer the question “How Can We Participate Effectively in Our Neighborhood Schools?” The forum will take place at Warren Easton High School, 3019 Canal Street, on Wednesday October 24th from 6-8PM. Participating education advocates include: Karran Royal (Oak Park Civic Improvement Association), Hal Brown (Board Chairman of NO College Prep), Shakoor Aljuwani (St. Luke’s Homecoming Center), as well as MCNO. For any questions, call NPN at (504) 940-2207.

Many changes have taken place with our public schools in Mid-City, and here is a brief overview as to what will be happening in our neighborhood as we begin the 2007-2008 school year:

John Dibert Elementary
Dibert is set to reopen on September 4th, once again as a pre-K through 8th school in the Recovery School District. The new superintendant of the RSD, Paul Vallas, determined that Dibert will be a cluster center for non-English speaking students in the RSD, as Mid-City has historically had a large Spanish-speaking population. He has also said that he is determined to keep class size reduced to 20 students. That would bring the total student population down from 415 to 300 students, a number that better fits the facility. There are also plans to move the 7th and 8th grade students to Thurgood Marshall in October. Keith Bartlett will continue as principal, and he can be reached at Kbneworleans@aol.com. Cardillia Lamb will be the principal of the Middle School at Thurgood Marshall when it opens.

Warren Easton High
Warren Easton began the school year on August 8th, and will continue to teach students in grades 9-12. Easton will again be run by the Warren Easton Charter Foundation, with Alexina Medley as principal. More information can be seen at the Warren Easton website. We would still love to find a way to purchase the block of land that is for sale next to Warren Easton on Canal Street, so please let us know if you have any creative ideas.

Capdau-UNO Early College High
Thurgood Marshall’s building will be shared by two charter schools, and we would like to welcome them into our neighborhood. The largest of the two will be the Pierre Capdau-UNO Early College High. They are starting with approximately 250 students, half in the 9th grade, and half in the 10th. They plan on adding an 11th grade the following year, and a 12th grade the year after that. They will be led by principal Shannon Verrett, and are set to open on September 4th. Principal Verrett can be reached at sverrett@uno.edu.

NOLA 180
Thurgood Marshall will also be used temporarily by NOLA 180, a group chartering the Langston Hughes Academy. The plan is for them to move back near the Fairgrounds into modular buildings at some time in October, though Principal John Alford said it might be over the Christmas holiday. Once they move back, then the 7-8 grade students at Dibert will move to Thurgood Marshall Middle School, governed by the RSD. For more information, concact John Alford at (504) 274-3626 or jalford@nola180.org. You can read more about Principal Alford at this recent article in New Orleans Magazine.

Esperanza
Esperanza is the Spanish word for “hope.” UNO, not the University of New Orleans as with Capdau-UNO, but UNO as in United Neighborhood Organization based in Chicago, will be operating this school with about 260 students grades K-8. Jacob Perez is the principal. Principal Perez has said that there is hope to make Esperanza a community center especially for our Spanish speaking neighbors in New Orleans. More information on United Neighborhood Organization can be found at www.unocharterschools.org. You can reach Jacob Perez at (504) 251-1008.

Fisk-Howard
There is still no word on what will become of the heavily damaged facility at Fisk-Howard. We are hoping to have a new pre-K-6th school built there. You can voice your opinion by going to this site and leaving comments. This facility matches quite well with the criteria needed for a new school in Council District B.

This Saturday, August 11th, MCNO’s Education Committee will be hosting a brainstorming session to find ways that we as a community can help improve our public schools. We’ll be meeting from 10-11 AM at John Dibert Elementary School at 4217 Orleans Avenue, and all are invited to attend. For further information, call Michael Homan at (504) 377-7284.

Esperanza Charter School is opening in Mid-City where Crossman used to be. Here’s an informational forum — please share with your neighbors.

Esperanza Charter School Information Forum at:

Holy Cross College
4127 Woodland Dr., Algiers
July 11th, Wednesday
6pm to 8pm
La Tropical: Live Remote Site
Food and prizes

Enrollment will done for Esperanza Charter School students: K-8th
Limited Space

Call Jacob Perez at (504) 220-2037 with questions.

[Source: Hispanic Forum of New Orleans]

Closer to home, Esperanza will be offering open enrollment at Grace Episcopal Church (3700 Canal Street) as follows:

Friday July 6 3-6pm
Sat July 7 3-6pm
Mon July 9 3-6pm
Tues July 10 3-6pm

Please get the word out to any neighbors who are needing to enroll an elementary school aged child.

A story in today’s Times-Picayune gives some useful information about another school opening in Mid-City.
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I wrote a bit more about the short and sad life of Mid-City Charter Schools, as well as our efforts to have a say in our neighborhood schools here.

I just received word that Mid-City Charter Schools will not be recommended by NACSA to charter a school in Mid-City. This is of course unfortunate, but I would also add that what the state is doing with our New Orleans schools is immoral and illegal.

On Feb. 6, 7, 12 & 13, volunteers are needed to prepare the site and install Kaboom playground equipment at Dibert Elementary on Orleans Avenue, the only elementary school open in Mid City. The work day starts at 8:30 a.m. and lasts until approximately 3:00 p.m. If you can volunteer a few hours during that time, you are welcome to
join in the effort.

I know that the dates are weekdays, but those are the dates in which Kaboom selected. If you can make it or have any questions, please email Phil Costa at zbigez - yahoo - com.

Today the new non-profit entity Mid-City Charter Schools met with four persons hired by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers to review our application. The interview went very well in my opinion. We should hear about their decision February 13th, and then the BESE board votes on February 15th.
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Today Mid-City Charter Schools officially applied to charter Thurgood Marshall as a pre-K through 8th grade school. We should learn by February if our application is accepted. (more…)

Read MCNO’s Letter to Governor Blanco outlining our frustrations in trying to charter a neighborhood school (October 14, 2006)

One of the most important aspects to the recovery of New Orleans involves the opening and maintenance of excellent public schools. MCNO has been working since January of 2006 to charter Dibert Elementary, as you know from our conversations in the neighborhood and previous posts (1, 2, 3). On September 18th, 2006, we learned that our charter application was denied. No reason was given. We have spent the past month trying to get answers about why our application was turned down so we could better understand and move forward.

Finally, on October 20th, we received a packet from the Louisiana Department of Education containing the rubrics used by evaluators from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). Keep in mind that the Recovery School District (RSD) was formed in 2003 to take over academically unacceptible schools, and their power expanded tremendously after Hurricane Katrina during a special legislative session in November of 2005. The RSD pledged to collaborate with communities and that their process would be transparent and that they would be accountible. Sadly, none of these things have happened. In fact, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), and the RSD outsourced their authority and the decision making process regarding the awarding of charter schools to NACSA, a Chicago based organization. Our elected officials on BESE adjudicated all responsibility and simply rubber stamped whatever NACSA decides. Moreover, it was clear during the interview process that many reviewers for NACSA had never read our application.

NACSA’s explanations about our charter denial lists concerns that the management company we partnered with, Education Design Management, was inexperienced. While it is true that EDM as an entity has never chartered a school, the individuals who formed EDM and work for the company have an incredible amount of experience in chartering schools. Some of the other reasons provided by NACSA again demonstrate their lack of competence in making these decisions. For example, their first point states that “Board membership has not been stable since original application, notably Amy Lafont has moved from MCNO board to EDM employee roster to MCNO trustee board.” Sadly, it seems NACSA confused Natalie Lafont from the MCNO board with Amy Lafont, even with their very different first names written on all documents in the application. They also condemn us for not saying things during the interview process that we were not asked to say. It seems we were doomed to failure throughout the process, as the charters were granted not to neighborhood groups, but instead to national groups with ties to NACSA.

There is a November 1 application for eligibility deadline for chartering schools to open in the Fall of 2007, with the entire application due December 1. It would be impossible for MCNO to submit a new application in that time, as we are now just receiving NACSA’s feedback. We are submitting a letter asking BESE and the RSD to extend the deadline to a reasonable date, and we are also asking them to please not grant charters for schools in Mid-City to national organizations without in-depth consulations with MCNO. We still very much want to have a say in how our schools are run, and to ensure that children in Mid-City receive nothing short of a first-rate education. We are currently exploring our options to move forward, and continue to envision a future with excellent public schools.

I have some fantastic news to report. I just heard from Geraldine Harris, the chief librarian for New Orleans. In her words, “It’s going to happen folks.” We are going to put a public library at 330 North Carrollton Ave, the spot where Major Video used to be located. When the space is ready, likely to be December 06 or January 07, we’re moving in. We haven’t had a public library in Mid-City since 1958, so it will be a welcomed returned.

Solinet is going to give us a grant that will fund much of this for three years. At the end of three years, it is my hope that we will have a permanent building in which to move, or we’ll have the funds to keep the location open. However, we will still need funds to pay for the build-out and to make up the difference in the lease. Regarding the funds we need to raise, in the words of Ms. Harris, “I’ll try to work my end to make it happen and if you can donate some of the Boozo money we will be in heaven.”

To date, Boozocracy.org has raised just over $1,000, well short of our $1 million goal. We need your help in promoting the site, and Bart and I will work on our end as well.

Sylvia Parks writes in with information regarding educational opportunities in nearby Lakeview:
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Opening quality schools is fundamental to the rebuilding of New Orleans. The Mid-City Neighborhood Organization is sponsoring the charter of Dibert Elementary School to begin to meet this end. After a great deal of work by some very gifted and committed volunteers, we had provisional approval and everything looked in order to open this much needed school in September of 2006. However, in a shocking turn of events, we learned late Friday that our application was denied. There seems to be quite a bit of evidence that something fishy is going on. Charter applications far inferior to ours were approved. We’re worried that it’s state politics as usual, and that perhaps another neighborhood’s school is slotted to use the now vacant Dibert property. We’re currently doing some research on how we appeal this process and we will be sure to keep you posted on events as they unfold. Also, people need to know that because of legislation in the Special Session of the Fall 2005, the Recovery School District pledged [Word document, 1.1 MB] that it “is committed to developing a strong model of parental and community collaboration” and “The RSD is committed to ensuring transparency regarding its processes and practices and accountability (at all levels).” Neither of these things has happened with the RSD, nor did the National Association of Charter School Authorizers help as they were supposed to.

Right now we need your help. Please email the people below and let them know why you think opening Dibert is important, and why Mid-City needs our own school. Use as the subject “Mid-City Needs Dibert Elementary.” Also please leave a copy of your email as a comment to this post. We had hoped that by creating a model school in the neighborhood that we would attract families, increase community involvement, and simply better educate our children. It was a vital and necessary piece of the puzzle for us to move forward. All of this is tragically on hold for the moment. Not opening Dibert simply makes no sense.

The following are members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. They can all be reached at:
sbese@la.gov
Mr. Dale Bayard, Ms. Polly Broussard, Ms. Glenny Lee Buquet, Mr. Edgar Chase, Ms. Penny Dastugue, Ms. Louella Givens, Ms. Leslie Jacobs, Ms. Linda Johnson, Mr. Walter Lee, Dr. James Stafford, Ms. Mary Washington

Cecil Picard, the state superintendent of Education
SuperintendentPicard@la.gov

The following are City Council Members who could potentially help us:
Shelley Midura
smidura@cityofno.com)
Stacy Head
shead@cityofno.com
Oliver Thomas
OMThomas@cityofno.com
Arnie Fielkow
arniefielkowcoun@bellsouth.net

Thank you, and here’s hoping this can make a difference.