August 29, 2025, marks twenty years since Hurricane Katrina changed our city and our public education system. In the two decades since the storm, our schools have transformed, and our students have made remarkable progress. We celebrate that progress, while honoring the heaviness this anniversary holds.
NSNO will tell the story of changes in public education through the voices of those who lived it with videos, written pieces, and more that highlight personal stories, lessons, and bold ideas for the future. We invite you to explore what’s here and to return every Wednesday for new content and fresh perspectives.
Katrina 20 Timeline: New Orleans Public Schools 20 Years Later
The Katrina 20 Timeline is an interactive feature of the NOLA-PS Data Dashboard that highlights 20 years of progress and change in public education. The timeline offers historical context, data, and key milestones that have shaped the city’s schools over the past two decades.
Dedication Through Uncertainty
The story of Hurricane Katrina’s impact on our city’s schools and the enormous dedication of our educators and community members in its aftermath.
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- Talk Dat: NOLA Education Radio Show – Katrina Uncertainty & Dedication to Return to Something Better
- Revisiting our Blog: Educators’ Voices
- News You Don’t Want to Miss:
- On Katrina’s 20th Anniversary, Patrick Dobard Revisits NOLA Reboot (The74)
- NSNO Releases Series on Post-Katrina Education (Biz New Orleans)
- The Storm, Aftermath, and Recovery: How Katrina Shaped This Educator’s Career (EdWeek)
- Creating and sustaining a new kind of education system after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. (Brookings.edu)
- Education After Katrina: 20 Years of Resilience (eurweb.com)
- New Orleans Schools Rebuilt: Two Decades of Change Since Katrina (WWL-TV)
Educators Make the Difference
Let us honor and celebrate the people at the forefront and driving that great progress, our educators.
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- Revisiting our Blog: The Dedication of Educators
- Talk Dat: NOLA Education Radio Show – Educators Make the Difference
- News You Don’t Want to Miss:
- How Hurricane Katrina shaped these New Orleans educators (Associated Press)
- The Storm, Aftermath, and Recovery: How Katrina Shaped This Educator’s Career (EdWeek)
- Veteran teacher Mrs. Stevenson reflects on decades of dedication in New Orleans (WWL-TV)
- NOLA.com interview with veteran educator Lee Green. (nola.com)
World-Class Facilities for Students
Trace the history of our school facilities, from the vast destruction following Hurricane Katrina to the world-class buildings our students learn in today.
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- Revisiting our Blog: Reimagined Spaces, Lasting Impact
- Talk Dat: NOLA Education Radio Show – World-Class Facilities for Our Students
- News You Don’t Want to Miss:
- 18 Years, $2 Billion: Inside New Orleans’s Biggest School Recovery Effort in History (The74)
Academic Progress Over Two Decades
Examine the transformative academic progress our students and schools have made since Hurricane Katrina.
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- Revisiting our Blog: Academic Progress
- Talk Dat: NOLA Education Radio Show – A National Model for Growth and Achievement
- News You Don’t Want to Miss:
- On Katrina’s 20th Anniversary, Patrick Dobard Revisits NOLA Reboot (The74)
- The Inconvenient Success of New Orleans Schools (The74)
- Creating and sustaining a new kind of education system after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. (Brookings.edu)
- 20 Years After Hurricane Katrina: What New Orleans Teaches America About K-12 School Reform (Real Clear Education)
- New Orleans Education Leaders Discuss School Progress (WGNO)
- Did the post-Katrina overhaul of New Orleans schools help students? Here’s what the data says. (nola.com)
Autonomy, Accountability, & Equity
Take a close look at how New Orleans came to have one of the most innovative public education systems in the nation.
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- Revisiting our Blog: Models of innovation
- Talk Dat: NOLA Education Radio Show – A System of Autonomy, Accountability, and Equity
- News You Don’t Want to Miss:
- On Katrina’s 20th Anniversary, Patrick Dobard Revisits NOLA Reboot (The74)
- The Inconvenient Success of New Orleans Schools (The74)
- Creating and sustaining a new kind of education system after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. (Brookings.edu)
- 20 Years After Hurricane Katrina: What New Orleans Teaches America About K-12 School Reform (Real Clear Education)
- Recovery to restructure: Inside the nation’s boldest school experiment.(WWL-TV)
- Did the post-Katrina overhaul of New Orleans schools help students? Here’s what the data says. (nola.com)
Another 20 Years of Progress
We are looking ahead, focused on maintaining the great progress our students and educators have made so far.
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- Revisiting our Blog: Strong Schools, Strong Futures
- Talk Dat: NOLA Education Radio Show – Looking Forward: Another 20 Years of Progress
- Guest Essay from Patrick Dobard: The Long Walk Back to Circle Food Store
- Guest Essay from Jay Altman: Building the Civic Infrastructure and Spirit of Collaboration to Support Schools for the Future
- New You Don’t Want to Miss:
- On Katrina’s 20th Anniversary, Patrick Dobard Revisits NOLA Reboot (The74)
- The Inconvenient Success of New Orleans Schools (The74)
- NSNO Releases Series on Post-Katrina Education (Biz New Orleans)
- Creating and sustaining a new kind of education system after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (Brookings.edu)
In the News:
- On Katrina’s 20th Anniversary, Patrick Dobard Revisits NOLA Reboot (The74)
- The Inconvenient Success of New Orleans Schools (The74)
- How Hurricane Katrina shaped these New Orleans educators (Associated Press)
- NSNO Releases Series on Post-Katrina Education (Biz New Orleans)
Additional Resources:
- KATRINA K20: Still Standing, Still New Orleans – City of New Orleans
- Education Research Alliance – The New Orleans Post-Katrina School Reforms: 20 Years of Lessons
- Talk Dat: NOLA Education WBOK Radio Show