New Orleans School Guide 2023

STUDENTFAMILIES GIVEUS 4.7OF5STARS

*Source: 2020 Parent SatisfactionSurvey

APROVEN ONLINE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE FOR LOUISIANA FAMILIES.

University View Academy is aLouisiana-based K-12 tuition-free online public charter school available to students statewide from any parish. As one of the most innovative virtual charter schools in Louisiana, we offer aunique online environment with certified teachers and proven curricula thatallow student families the flexibility and freedom to learn in away thatfits their lifestyle needs. UVAstudents thrive because they areattending aschoolwith years of delivering aproven online experience.

EXPLORE OUR EXCLUSIVE EARLYCOLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM.

University View Academy also offers an early college high school program thatallows our students to earn afreetwo-year associates degree from apartner community or technical college by either attendingclasses on campus or online via dual enrollment. This incredible program offers UVAstudents the opportunity to get ahead on their four-year degree while still qualifying for TOPS when they graduate from high school.

ChristEpiscopal School

Foundedin1984, ChristEpiscopalSchool is an independent, co-educational college preparatory dayschool forstudents in Early Pre-kindergartenthrough 12th Grade.The school, with its 650+ students, is seton twounique,idylliccampuses in Covington, Louisiana. Our rigorous and individualized academic programisdesignedtopromote criticaland independentthinking, and our small classsizes and discussion-based academic environmentdovetail with aspiritualityand spirit of service thathavelong been integral to the school’s success. Our students thriveinour comprehensivearts and humanities curriculum, ever-evolving STEM programming, and unique outdoor ed-

ucation curriculum. Our students also have the opportunity to participate in competitive athletics beginning in the firstgrade and continuing throughthe highschool varsity level. Theyalsohavethe freedom to participate in or create after-school clubs and enrichments thatfurther their passions.

80 Christwood Boulevard, Covington,LA70433 christepiscopalschool.org 985-871-9902

TheWillowSchool

HighSchool: 5624 FreretStreet, New Orleans, LA 70115

LowerSchool: 7315WillowStreet, NewOrleans, LA 70118

Middle School:5625 Loyola Avenue,New Orleans, LA 70115

The highestperforming Kindergarten-12th gradepublic school in the state, The Willow School, aNationalBlue Ribbon School in partnership with Tulane University, offers auniqueprogram thatinspires imagination and intellectualcuriosity. Willow’s renownedacademic program engages students and challenges them to thinkcritically, analyticallyand creatively. As an Arts Schools Network Exemplary School, The Willow School offersarenownedarts-integratedacademic program at its threeUptowncampuses. Willow earnedaGoldMedal in U.S. News and WorldReport’srankings of “BestHigh Schools” in the country. TheClass of 2022 received morethan $30 million

in merit-basedscholarships. Qualifying Willow seniors areguaranteed admission to Tulane’sfreshman class. Willowjuniors and seniors also mayenroll in free college courses while in high school. Our newly renovatedBrees Family Fieldisready for football,soccer,baseball,softball and lacrosse action!

EarlyPre-kindergarten through12th Grade

K-12 Tuition-free publiccharterschool

NewOrleans Militaryand Maritime Academy

425

Reserveone of our limited 8th and 9th gradeseats NOW! NOMMA is atop-rated 8th-12th gradepublic charterschool open to students from allmetro NewOrleans parishes. We have addedthree new Open Housedates! It is importantthat interested students submit theInterestForm at nomma.net/admissions if theywillattend one of the threeopenhousesbetween April 26 and May22. Questions/date registration can be sent to registration@nomma.net. Students at NOMMA study in afocused, college preparatory environmentguided by ateam of teachers and retired military instructors who bring unparalleled experience to theclassroom. NOMMA offers aTOPS UniversityorTOPS JumpStart TechnicalCareerDiploma to allgraduates. AllNOMMA students arecadets in the Marine CorpsJunior ReserveOfficer Training (JROTC)Program. The mentoring supportprovidedbythe JROTC Instructor

Public Type 2Charter

UPCOMINGEVENTS:

OpenHouses April26, May10, and May22

Doors open at 5:15 pm; presentation begins promptlyat6 pm 8400 Hayne Boulevard (504) 242-6270

• Affordable tuition (payment plans available)

• Graduates havebeen recognized as NationalMerit semifinalists, valedictorians,and salutatoriansat prestigious area high schools.

504-227-3810|registration@nomma.net

LAKECASTLEPRIVATESCHOOL EST. 1963

• Lake Castle graduate was2021 Ben Franklin High School’svaledictorian.

• Lake Castle graduate was2022 Ben Franklin High School’ssalutatorian.

• Traditional(not Common Core) accelerated curriculum

• Allclassesuse textbooksatleast one levelabove current grade.

• Award-winning math tournament teams

• Emphasisonexcellent behavior, manners, and respect forothers

BE PARTOFA TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE

AffordablePrivate Education

10 MinutesfromUNO/Ben Franklin

14 MinutesfromCBD Lake Castle is opentoall qualified students and does notdiscriminateonthe basis of race,color,national origin,sex,ordisability.

SophieB.WrightHighSchool

Napoleon Avenue,New Orleans, LA 70115

Sophie B.Wright HighSchoolisapublic high school locatedinUptown NewOrleans. It is our goaltoprovide arigorous college preparatory curriculum and careerpreparation programto students in Orleans Parish. Our curriculum program focuses on meeting the individualneeds of our diversepopulation of students. We expectstudents to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of material throughanalysis, synthesis, cross-curricularapplication, and originalthought.Students who accept the academic challenge of our school should expecttocontinue their education at afour-year college or

1426 9TH-12TH GRADE •Dual Enrollment Programwith UNO&SUNO •Partnershipwith NewOrleans Career Center

Hoffman EarlyLearning Center

2622S Prieur Street, New Orleans, LA 70125 www.hoffmanelc.org (504) 335-0444 |Info@nolacollegeprep.org AGES 6WEEKS TO PRE-K 4 Fortuitioninformation visit www.hoffmanelc.org

value and recognizeits purpose in connecting childrentotheir families, culture, community, and the natural world. We strive to developaninclusivecommunity of reflective, life-long learners by engaging and empoweringthe wholechildand their family.Few preschools offer both publiclyfundedand tuition-basedseats —Hoffman is the firstofits kind: ahigh-quality, accessibleand diversebydesign EarlyLearning Center in NewOrleans.

OperationSpark

514FranklinAvenue, NewOrleans, LA 70117 operationspark.org 504-534-8277

GRADES 10-12, and graduating seniors

Registernow forOperation Spark’sSummerCodingCamp!

Operation Spark is anonprofit software training centerthat offers high school codingcourses and asummer camptostudents interested in acareerintech. Thereare alimited number of free spotsavailabletopublic and parochial school students. Studentslearn invaluableskillssuch as tech literacy,problem-solving, creativityand professional collaboration. They builda portfolio of websites, mobile apps, andvideo gameprojects, whileearning IndustryBased Credentialsand collegecredit.Studentswho complete the Advancedcourse are eligibletoenter Operation Spark’s professional-levelworkforce training programupongraduation. Our summer campbegins June 1 and is registering nowfor 10-12th gradersand rising seniors.

Founded in 1957,St. Andrew’s EpiscopalSchool enrolls boys andgirls 12months -8th grade,offering anurturing yet challenging education that focuses on “Cherishing Childhood,Developing Character and Cultivating Leaders.”

At St. Andrew’s we want children to love learning, askquestions, be curious, and find wonder in the worldaround them. Our teachers arehighlytrained, expert wonder makers that nurture each child’s unique interestsand strengths, helping them believe in themselvesand what theycan accomplish. With small classes, our teachers can do morethan teach students —they’re able to inspire them.

Visit St. Andrew’s and seewhat makesitsospecial!

Open House April 27,5:30-7pm

NEWORLEANSYAAUTHORS

BrittanyN. WILLIAMS &DanielJose OLDER

BY KAYL EE PO CH E

ASALATINOMANANDABLACKWOMAN, Daniel Jose Olderand

Brittany N. Williamsdidn’tgrowupreadinga lotofbooks withcharacters that looked like them.Sonow as NewOrleans-based Young Adultfantasyauthors,they’re writingthe type of bookstheywishtheywould have had as kids.The couple movedtothe city in 2017 and hadtheir first child here in 2021.

Both have books comingout this spring.For Williams, also theassociate artistic directorattheater company The NOLAProject,“That Self-SameMetal,” which comesout April 25,will mark her debutnovel. Then on May16, Older, oneofthe writersofthe “StarWars: TheHighRepublic” comics,will release thesecondbook in hisOutlawSaints fantasyduology,“Last Cantoofthe Dead.”

HowdidyoubothbecomeYoung Adultfictionauthors?

DANIELJOSEOLDER: Iwantedtowrite.Ijust really didn’t know what type of writing. So alot of my 20s, whileI was working as aparamedic in NewYorkCityasmyday joband sometimesnight job, Iwas justwriting aton of different stuff, like screenplays,poems,essays. Iwas just alloverthe map.And then somehow, Iwas like,“Youknowwhat? It’s gonna be abook,and it’s gonna be aYoung Adultbook.” AndI just knewthatthatwas thedirection Ineededtotake, and Iwentwithit.

Partially,Iwas really writingkindofinresponse to Harry Potter,which wasreally huge at thetime. AndIenjoyed it,but Iwas also like,“Wow, like,there’s alot herethatit’s thesame old thing from when Iwas akid.” Iwantedtosee Latinosonthe page and Blackand Brownfolks on thepage —and as heroes,not just as side characters.Soalot of whereIcamefromwriting “Shadowshaper” waswritten in responsetothat, andthat’show it allbegan.Thatwas 2010

BRITTANY N. WILLIAMS: Iwrote this book in particular to my 16-year-old self —justthinking aboutthe Shakespeare-lovingkid Iwas.I wanted to just writesomething [for]another Blackteenage girlwho mayfeellikeher interestsare tooweird or tooniche or something that makes herabnormal,tolet her knowthat, yes, youare special, but you’re also perfectly normal.Thereare other people who

like those things.And to just give a responsetosomeofthe questions Iwas bumpingupintowhenIwas ateenager and that Icouldn’tnecessarily find in thebooks that Iread, and Ireadquite extensively.

Just to give teenageBlack girlsa chancetoreada fantasybook where themaincharacterwho looks like them fights mythical creatures. So they don’t have to do thething that Iusedtodo as akid,where no matter howthe main characterwas described,inmyheadI always imaginedher as aBlack girl who looked like me.Iwantedtogivethem achance to nothave to do that extra layerofimagining.

Canyoutalkmoreaboutthese questionsyouhadwhilereading thatyounevergotanswersto?

WILLIAMS: It washavingcertain feelings and notquite knowing howto putwords to it.Havingquestions about my sexuality, butnot even knowing how to voicethe questions in thefirst place.

AndmoreonaShakespeare-nerdlevel, loving this thing andthiswriterand theseplays,but always feelinglikean outsider trying to slip into someone else’s legacy butinmyheart of hearts, feelingthatthatwasn’ttrue. Andthen also, only having knowledge of Black people andBlack historyinrelationto enslavement andthe escape from enslavement —nothingreally before that or outsideofit.

Howdoyouaddresssomeof thesequestionsinyourbook?

WILLIAMS: So first off, Idid my best to create aBlack teenagegirlcharacter whoexistsin1605 London outsideof theexpectation of “Oh, well,ifyou’re aBlack personinthe past, then you’re gonna be enslaved.” She’snot enslaved She’sthe daughter of agoldsmith,so herfamily is somewhat well offinthis time period.

Lettingher be friendswithWilliam Shakespeareand having hertwin brother be an apprentice with William

Brittany N. Williams andDanielJose Olderare YA authors living in NewOrleans

LE FT PH OTO PR OV IDE DBYB RITTAN YN .W IL LI AM S; RIG HT PH OTO PR OV ID ED BY DA NIE LJ OS EO LD E R

GRADES 8-12

Rooted in the Lasallian heritage and tradition of the Christian Brothers,DeLa SalleHighSchool excels in guiding young men and women of varied backgrounds and abilities to developspiritually, intellectually, physicallyand socially. TheonlycoeducationalCatholic highschool in the city of NewOrleans, De La Salleoffers outstanding college preparatoryand dualenrollmentprograms thatinspireand prepareour students forhigher education with growth opportunities for alifetime. Their success is our mission.

Arden Cahill AcademyHighSchool

3101Wall Blvd,Gretna, LA 70056

ardencahillacademy.com

Arden CahillAcademyisdesigned to challenge students academically while also encouragingcreativityand exploration. In addition to our rigorous academics, our school is proud to have adiverse population of students from avariety of backgrounds

We believe thatlearning from andwith otherswho have differentperspectives and experiences is crucialfor personaland intellectualgrowth. Our staff provides individualized attentionand supportto help each studentreach their full potential. At ACA, we believe that individualityand studentexpression arekey to fostering a positive andinclusivelearning environment. We invite youtovisit our campus to learn moreabout our advancedstudies liberalartsprogram forinfants through 12th grade

Shakespeare’s acting company. Surrounding her with other Black people and Brown people and really showcasing London as the diverse metropolitan place that it has always been

And then allowing her to experience attractions to all kinds of people to boys, to girls, to whoever and not having those attractions be a source of questioning herself or her identity or her self-worth

“ThatSelf-SameMetal” iscomingoutsoon.Howare youfeeling?

WILLIAMS: I just joked to someone earlier that I was screaming, crying, throwing up It still feels unbelievable I had the idea for the book years and years ago, and I didn’t finish writing it until 2019 So I’ve been working on it for a long time For a long time, it felt like it wasn’t real It felt like it wasn’t going to happen So being so close to actually holding hard copies in my hands, seeing other people holding it in their hands, having other people read is both surreal, it’s terrifying, it’s thrilling And I don’t know, I just can’t wait

Daniel,canyoutellus aboutyourupcomingbook “LastCantooftheDead”?

OLDER: I’m about to wrap up a Young Adult fantasy duology that’s called the Outlaw Saints series And the first one came out last year It’s called “Ballard & Dagger.” It’s from Rick Riordan’s imprint and Hyperion Books, which is really cool

It’s about this kid Mateo, who lives in Brooklyn but he’s from a mystical island in the Caribbean that sank Everyone that lived on the island moved to Brooklyn, and they brought all of their gods and saints and demons with them. So he’s in this kind of war-torn situation in his neighborhood, and he has to tap into his own power as a healer to help everyone get through it

Whatdoyoulikeabout writingforyoungadults?

OLDER: Young people are amazing, first of all. They’re the best truth tellers. And that’s true when they’re telling you about your book and that’s true as they’re moving through the world. We’ve seen that particularly right now in the moment where young people

are changing the world in amazing ways and doing such powerful work and really holding the rest of the world accountable. For me, that gives me a lot of hope.

Then there’s also just this incredible, powerful energy of change that’s happening particularly when you’re a teenager. Things are changing really fast, and change is at the heart of every story … So when you’re writing for young people, it’s really about tapping into all those different kinds of change that are going on whether it’s with them, with the world around them and their relationships. And that’s very fertile ground for inspiration and for storytelling

WILLIAMS: It’s wonderful writing characters who are and to readers who also are in the midst of huge change and capable of huge change Teenagers definitely keep you honest When you’re channeling your teen self to write to younger folks and your readers who are teenagers, they’re not going to stand for you lying to them on the page I just felt like the fact that I could give a teenager like me something that I didn’t have but would have loved when I was a teen, that just makes me feel so warm inside I love being able to do that It feels like my small way of making the world a better place for the younger generation. It’s like, I had to search high and low for this I didn’t get this until I was an adult I’m not gonna let you go through that same struggle Here you go I did this for you.

I WANTED TO JUST WRITE SOMETHING [FOR] ANOTHER BLACK teenagegirl WHO MAY FEEL LIKE HER INTERESTS ARE TOO WEIRD OR tooniche OR SOMETHING THAT

Whatauthorsandbooks didyouhavegrowingupthat madeyouwanttowriteyour ownstories?

OLDER: I was a big Greek mythology head as a kid. I loved “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” I guess you could say Homer is one of my earliest writing heroes, whoever that person is, probably a group of people I was a big politics nerd too, so (Bob) Woodward and (Carl) Bernstein were big heroes, that type of thing. I was a really weird kid. I was literally like 11, and I was like, “Man, Watergate is so cool!”

But then I also think it’s really important to shout out the storytellers who don’t have their works printed in books. I think about my mom, for instance, as a storyteller, and there’s like such an influential piece of that in me. She loves literature She’s a literature professor But she’s a great storyteller. Her whole family is And then just like people in the neighborhood, and

as I got a little older and I was working on the ambulance, my partners on the ambulance, great storytellers, the folks in the bodega, everywhere There’s just stories everywhere, and I think they are equally important. The books that I loved as a child, the books that made me who I am as a teenager are a huge part of who I am, but just as much it’s the way that our families and our friends tell stories that still lives on the pages.

WILLIAMS: The one book that I was assigned in high school that I actually read, besides the Shakespeare plays, was “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton. I loved the book. I remember the movie terrified me as a little kid and reading the book and then after like, coming back to the movie, I was enamored with what he did how he made the science feel real, how the dinosaurs felt so dangerous and just the excitement in the book

Howhaveyouseen YAchangethroughout theyears?

WILLIAMS: When both of us were kids pretty much, YA didn’t exist as its own separate age category. Everything was under children’s literature. And I know I was a fan of Gail Carson Levine with “Ella Enchanted” and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and all of those books that had a really determined and kind of stubborn female protagonist But she was always pale with green eyes and either red hair or she might have brown hair She was probably blonde. Her adventures and her attitude and the way she encountered her problems always really spoke to me, but just the way she looked did not.

Definitely today there are so many diverse voices who are getting to write so many queer Black women who are writing queer Black girl characters And even between when I started my

PR OV ID ED BY BR IT TA NY N. WI LLIA MS Brittany N. Williams at 14 years old.

PH OTO BY DA NI EL JO S E OL DE R Daniel Jose Older as a Watergate-obsessed child.

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EQAservesstudents aged 15 –21through a year-round curriculum. Ourschools are designedtomeetstudents where they are, providethem with academic,career, andlife training, andraise theirown,their families’, and society’sexpectationsoftheir abilities andtheirfutureprospects

book and now that I’m about to publish my book, the landscape has changed incredibly We still have a ways to go, but it’s so much better.

OLDER: What I remember when I was starting out 10 years ago, in a lot of ways it looked a lot like what it did when we were all kids because it really hasn’t changed in like a century Children’s literature in terms of representation has been one way for a very long time, and it’s started to change in part because writers mostly writers of color stepped up and were loud, did organizing, activism, set up conferences, took risks, got ourselves in trouble stirring the pot. And people finally started to jump on board, and it became a movement That’s a lot of why things are different now. There’s a lot of reasons for the change but that’s a big part of it

•Staffed by Sisters of the Living Word and daughters of Our Lady of the Rosary

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We are looking at a very different landscape. We’ve proven wrong a lot of the lies that we were being told over and over by the publishing industry at the time, like, “Oh, we don’t publish you guys because you people don’t read, because we can’t sell the books,” just racist lies We had to sort of go through this gauntlet of proving how wrong that was and get to where we’re at And like Brittany said, there’s a long road to go still

Whatwouldyouliketosee moreofintoday’sYAfiction?

WILLIAMS: I’m always really interested in seeing more narratives that aren’t based in a world that’s sourced from the European experience or just like a European village but with another skin because it’s a secondary world. I’m really interested to see people explore historical aesthetics from other experiences throughout the wide world because when you think of Asia, Africa, even America pre-colonization, there are so many rich cultures to pull from and explore and ask all these big fantasy questions through. I’m really interested to see more of that, and I say this as someone who’s written a historical book set in London.

OLDER: I think the conversation about spirituality is a really ripe one to have right now. And I think that publishers have been really unsure how to have it in the Young Adult space because it is so complex, and there’s a lot of weight behind it and a lot of history to it, and it’s easy to get wrong But that’s exactly what makes books good

That type of risk and challenge would make for a really powerful story

The conversation around empire and imperialism and capitalism and environmentalism and the way that all of those things are interrelated and connect. That might sound heady but teenagers are the first people to feel the effects of a lot of those things Just because it’s stuff we talk about in college courses doesn’t mean that real people don’t actually know a lot about it and feel it very viscerally And especially now that’s more and more true with the environment in the shape it’s in and with things changing as quickly as they’re changing Young people are bearing the brunt of it, and they’re the ones that are going to have to live with it for the longest. So the conversation needs to happen in a way that includes them actively, and doesn’t just lecture to them or pretend that everything’s OK, because it’s not.

WILLIAMS: I’ve just been keeping a running list of things that I can’t wait to introduce him to as he gets older And just being kind of very conscious about the content and stuff that I let him consume, and understanding that things that I have a nostalgic love for, I can’t purely let him grow up with those because those don’t represent him as well as I would like him to be So just finding this nice blend of stuff that I loved as a kid and new things that I think he’ll really enjoy and trying to pay attention to what he seems to gravitate toward He has a huge library, and he has everything from like Sandra Boynton books I picked up a kids board book about gender identity and gender expression that he really enjoyed. Jacqueline Woodson sent us one of her kids books that he really loves. It’s “The Year We Learned to Fly,” which is in response to Virginia Hamilton’s collection, “The People Could Fly,” and we have that collection, too. So it’s just trying to give him as many options as possible

Asnewparents,howare younavigatingwhatkindof booksyouwantyourchild toconsumenowandwhen he’solder?

The schools of theArchdiocese of NewOrleans, Louisianaadmit students of anyrace, color,national and ethnicorigin to all therights,privileges, programs, andactivities generally accorded or made available to students at itsschools.Theydonot discriminateonthe basis of race, color,nationalorethnicorigin in administration of theireducational policies, admissionspolicies,scholarshipand loan programs, andathletic andother school-administeredprograms

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