PROFILE |
BY MISTY MILIOTO
Lake Forest Charter School ONE OF THE TOP PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS IN NEW ORLEANS EAST OFFERS AN INTEGRATED EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE. Lake Forest Charter School, which previously operated as Lake Forest Montessori School, was granted its public charter for grades grades K-8 in January 2006. After seeing her neighborhood and her prior school devastated by Hurricane Katrina, founding CEO Mardele S. Early was determined to open a school in New Orleans East as soon as possible — and Lake Forest Charter School was the first public school to open in the area. In January 2016, Lake Forest relocated from a small, outdated facility to a new state-of-the-art campus on the southwest corner of Lake Forest Boulevard and Wright Road. Lake Forest Charter emphasizes the creative arts and health and wellness as a
way to develop complete young adults who are prepared for the 21st century. “Students who are solely focused on academics are not being properly prepared to compete with their counterparts,” Early says. “The secondary and collegiate educational experience is no longer segregated to the classroom. As our world continues to shrink, and global competition and collaboration becomes the norm, we must introduce our students to forms of enrichment that allow them to converse and interact on multiple levels.” Lake Forest Charter also places importance on community service and active parental involvement. In so doing, the aim is to educate and raise socially conscious and communityminded children and young adults.
“When we introduce Lake Forest Charter to our new parents and families, we make sure to emphasize how important they are to this process,” Early says. “Education and knowledge will help a child to change his or her situation, but community involvement will help a person to change the world. At Lake Forest, not only do we want to make a difference in each of our student’s lives, we are committed to producing the next generation of innova-
PHOTOS BY CHERYL GERBER
14
The EAST New Orleans
