NOLA-PS gearing up to open doors at Leah Chase School
22nd April 2024 · 0 Comments
By Minh Ha
Contributing Writer
(Vertienews.org) — Less than two months after the Orleans Parish School Board voted to create the Leah Chase School – the first permanent, direct-run public school in New Orleans in nearly two decades – the NOLA Public Schools district has hired three new top administrators who will have a hand in shaping it.
The new employees include two central office administrators guiding the district’s approaches to academics and the arts – important hires as the school board has gestured toward the expansion of direct-run schools in New Orleans after years of charter operations.
One of those new administrators is Shelita Mundy Jones, who will serve as the district’s chief academic officer. Jones made a public appearance at a community meeting for the school on Wednesday (April 17). Jones, who previously worked for the Algiers Charter Schools Association and KIPP New Orleans, is now the director of performance and compliance at Warren Easton Senior High School, according to her LinkedIn resume.
“I’m very excited about this new start to my journey and to make sure I’m supporting students of New Orleans through the vision of our school system,” Jones said at the meeting.
The NOLA Public Schools district has a short timeline to put the Leah Chase School together. The new school will take over the Uptown site of the charter-run Lafayette Academy, whose operator gave up its contract after facing potential closure over poor standardized testing scores last year.
Lafayette was previously slated to close when no eligible charter networks volunteered to run it. But in January, the district and the board began to signal that NOLA Public Schools would step in, finalizing that decision the following month.
The district has also tapped Asia Muhaimin, a longtime educator who previously led the Warren Easton Charter High School Fighting Eagles marching band, as the district’s director of fine arts. And Crystal LaFrance, who has served as assistant principal at Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary Charter School, will become the new school’s elementary principal.
Jones declined to comment further on her new role to a reporter on Wednesday of last week. The district plans to publicly present all three administrators at the Orleans Parish School Board meeting Thursday (April 18).
“Hailing from New Orleans and proud products of our public school system, these individuals bring a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to education,” NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Avis Williams said in a news release.
What’s next for Leah Chase and Lafayette students?
For soon-to-be Leah Chase students, the first day of school will be on Aug. 6, according to the academic calendar that the district plans to present to the school board this month.
That leaves a little less than four months for the district to put together a school from (near) scratch.
Students will be able to choose an open seat at the Leah Chase School during the open enrollment period, which starts on June 5. According to NOLA Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Fateama Fulmore, there is no current estimate on the number of students who might be attending the school.
Lafayette students received closing school priority through the Common Application Process main round and are guaranteed a seat at the Leah Chase School.
The district also sent out a survey to 282 Lafayette families to gauge their interest in the new school earlier this year. According to Fulmore, only 59 families have completed the survey as of this week, with 88 percent saying they would enroll their children at the Leah Chase School.
“We recognize that there are some additional things that need to happen to make the school more tangible to the families,” Fulmore said. “We expect that uptick…as [Lafayette families] get to engage more directly with staff that will be at the school, and they can start building relationships with and knowing the team.”
In March, the district began interviewing for teachers, administrators and support staff at the new school, with teacher salaries starting at $50,000. The district has also winnowed down uniform options, begun developing curricula and looked into buying new furniture, smartboards and laptops.
Named after the beloved New Orleans chef Leah Chase, the school will partner with the Chase family to celebrate the city’s culture, Williams said Wednesday.
Williams said in an interview with Verite News that her team is looking to infuse Chase’s values as not only a chef, but also a supporter of social justice and the arts, into the school curriculum and develop field trips themed around the namesake. As the school grows, Williams said it might also establish a food lab where students can practice cooking gourmet cuisine and learn about nutrition.
Williams said the school will also feature a lounge on the third floor where students can learn about Chase.
“It’d be a space for students to understand her focus on the arts and even on food,” she said. “When you’re in this building, it should not be any question that this is the Leah Chase School.”
The school will serve grades K-5 this fall, gradually expanding to pre-K through 8th grade. The target enrollment is set at 320 students, with two sections for each grade level.
A final Leah Chase School community meeting will be held at Lafayette Academy, 2727 S Carrollton Ave, on May 9.
This article originally published in the April 22, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
