New Orleans in Depth
Charter ‘X’
Is New Orleans losing its heritage along with its schools? Plus, play the Name Game.
The Wheels Go ‘Round
Travel with a bus-load of kindergartners across New Orleans’ new charter landscape.
Video From the Trenches
A new generation of teachers has come to New Orleans in the wake of Katrina.
The Door-to-Door Salesman
Follow along as a charter school principal makes a pitch to a one family.
Finding Zion
A clever ad campaign sells a charter school to the family of one student.
Teaching Pipeline Runs Straight Out of New Orleans
In New Orleans, demand for teachers outweighs the local supply. Programs like Teach for America have moved in to fill the gap. Now, some say, these out-of-towners clog the pipeline.
The Wisdom of the Marketplace
Charter schools have moved from fringe to mainstay in New Orleans, leaving uncertain parents a dizzying array of options. Can they really sort them out?
Competing With Jesus
Some experts say it’s Catholic schools that are in real competition with charter schools.
As charter schools replace much of the old public school system in New Orleans, many historical school names are disappearing. Learn more from this interactive graphic.
Rebuilding Communities From the School Up, cont’d
Redefining Community
The distance between students and schools has also detached families from their neighborhoods. Previously, residents say, parents could depend on neighbors to pick up their children once the school day was done. Now families must work to form new bonds and support networks in more fractured school communities. This all becomes more complicated if [...]
Samuel J. Green Charter School
Reopened in 2006 in the building that formerly housed Samuel J. Green Middle School, a traditional public school.
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Greater Gentilly Area High School
Scheduled to open in August 2009 on the former Lake Area Middle School site. Its Education Committee is still determining whether or not the technology-focused school will be a charter.
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Andrew H. Wilson Charter School
Opened as a charter in 2007 in the former McDonogh School #7 building.
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Akili Academy
Opened in 2008 on the grounds of the boarded up F.W. Gregory Junior High School.
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Rebuilding Communities From the School Up
Hurricane Katrina washed away most of New Orleans’ traditional public schools and cleared the way for a new “open-choice” system dominated by charters. These schools draw students from all over the city. What happens when communities are fractured and new ones emerge?