This week, we’re revisiting past blog posts that showcase what makes New Orleans’ public schools distinct, from our nearly all-charter model to the freedom schools have to innovate and adapt to their communities.
NSNO has been proud to capture the complex and powerful work of our schools and educators on our blog over the years. Please read below to learn more from some of the impactful people and programs in our system.
Alysyn Mills, a member of the Community Academies of New Orleans (CANO) Board, talked with us about the role of a charter board, and what she hears from CANO educators: “The thing I hear our school leaders say over and over is, ‘we do what is right for our kids. And I think that, really reduced to its essence, is probably the right question all the time.”
Students preparing for a science fair project, which CANO board members, including Mills, judged.
“You hear that kind of as a buzzword, around mindfulness…we actually learned what it is, how to actually teach it to somebody, and then how you use it to de-escalate or help students cope.” – Ryan Ruyle, Principal of Morris Jeff Community School
Nearly all of New Orleans’ public schools are charter schools. In addition to having a principal or school leader, many are part of charter networks, which encompass a small group of schools with similar values, approaches, or visions. NSNO launched the E3 program in order to support the development of emerging charter-network level leaders. (It has now spun off into a national program, Greenhouse E3). In this piece, we shared brief quotes from the incoming leaders of the third E3 cohort, including this quote from Vasy McCoy, who is now the Chief of Schools for ReNEW Schools, a charter network.
“Helping to build sharp minds, big hearts and powerful souls in our children is the central work of my life, and the foundational obligation of any just society.” – Vasy McCoy, Chief of Schools, ReNEW Schools
