The Willow School (Louisiana)

Lusher Charter School
Address
7315 Willow Street 5624 Freret Street New Orleans, Louisiana , LA 70115 U.S.
Information
Type	Public Charter School
Motto	Celebrating cultural diversity through high academics and the arts.
Established	1917
School district	New Orleans Public Schools
Grades	K–12
Color(s)	Blue and Gold
Athletics conference	Louisiana High School Athletic Association
Mascot	Lions
Information	504-862-5110 505-304-3960
Website	School website

Lusher Charter School lower school campus

The secondary school of Lusher Charter is the former Alcee Fortier High School

Lusher Charter School is a K-12 charter school in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, in the heart of the university area. Lusher is chartered by Advocates for Arts Based Education (AABE), which acts as the board for the entire school. Lusher School has three uptown campuses; the K-5 program is housed at the Willow Street campus, the middle and high schools are both located at the Fortier campus on Freret Street, and a temporary campus was housed at the Jewish Community Center on St. Charles Avenue.

Danielle Dreilinger of The Times Picayune described the school as "exceptionally popular" and "one of the best public elementary schools in Louisiana".

General information

Notable Alumni

Aleksa Todorovic, Tulane University, Rode bench for Manchester City's second team --Being Cool

Carin Entrekin, Louisiana State University --Lovable

Charlie Hereford, Louisiana State University --Really Tall, Kinda Dark, Little Handsome

Michael McDonnell, Louisiana State University --Overall All-around Good Guy

Sam Laufer, Harvard University, Drafted by Yankees First Round --Self-explanatory

Todd Hamilton, University of Arizona --Being Todd, Highly Intelligent

History

Lusher was founded in 1917 and for its first few decades only taught grades K-6 at its Willow Street campus. Then, in 1990, Lusher moved its sixth grade class into the unused Carrollton Courthouse building at 719 South Carrollton Avenue; the school then expanded to include seventh and eighth grades while keeping the Willow Street campus for its K-5 program.

In 2003 however, the school began discussing the possibility of opening a high school. In 2005, the school applied to the Orleans Parish School Board to become a charter school and open a high school for the following school year but on April 11 of that year, the charter was denied. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina however, the school’s second attempt at gaining a charter was successful. Lusher Charter High School opened its doors for the first time on January 17, 2006 with 48 students and only 9th and 10th grades and six high school only teachers (one for each subject: math, science, social studies, English, French and Spanish). The high school was housed at the Carrollton Courthouse with the middle school for its first semester. Due to space limitations at the Carrollton campus, both the middle school and high school had to find a new home. In August 2006, both schools moved to their new campus, the defunct Alcee Fortier High School, on Freret Street.

Filming for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant took place at Lusher's Fortier campus during spring 2008. In May, Lusher's first senior class of thirty-five students was offered over two million dollars in college scholarships and included three national merit winners and a semifinalist for a Presidential Scholarship in the Arts. In summer of 2009, the Brees Family Field was completed with the assistance of Drew and Brittany Brees and the Brees Dream Foundation.

The class of 2011 earned over $11.9 million in scholarship and merit awards. According to the Louisiana Department of Education's academic ratings, Lusher, K-12, was a 4 star high school from 2007-2009 and became a 5 star school (highest possible rating) in 2010. In fall, 2010, Lusher was rated an A+ school by the Louisiana Department of Education and is the highest performing K-12 school in the state of Louisiana.

As of December 2015 the school did not disclose the name of its admissions test. That month the Louisiana Attorney General ruled that the school must disclose the test's name. In Louisiana schools are not permitted to use IQ tests for admissions purposes.

Administration

• CEO/Head of School - Kathy Riedlinger
• Elementary School Principal - Sheila Nelson
• Middle School Principal - Charlene Hebert
• High School Principal - Wiley Ates

Admissions

As of 2014 Kindergarten admissions is based on three levels: the first priority goes to siblings of students already admitted, the second priority goes to residents of the Lusher attendance zone, and the third goes equally to students testing into the school and to children of staff of Tulane University.

In 2013 there were 152 spaces for admission and 1,336 applicants for these spaces. In 2015 the kindergarten had 104 spaces, and it had 300 to 350 applicants. When the following were subtracted from the 104 spaces: the 25-35 zoned students, siblings of already admitted students, the 15 students with parents/guardians working for Tulane, and those who scored well on a kindergarten scorecard; only 15 spaces remained for "ordinary" applicants. In 2016 Dreilinger stated that due to the admissions requirements, "the average child, with no special status, has had very little chance of getting in."

As of 2016 Lusher was one of several New Orleans public schools that did not participate in OneApp, the common application system for New Orleans public schools. Dreilinger stated that Lusher's application procedure was "so complicated that parents have made spreadsheets to keep track of the steps". In 2015 the OPSB voted to require all charter schools to participate in OneApp.

Attendance boundary

In the post-Hurricane Katrina period, Lusher Charter retained its pre-Katrina attendance boundaries for elementary school students; no such boundary existed for its secondary school. This boundary included parts of Uptown New Orleans, including sections of East Carrollton, and all on-campus residences of Tulane University and Loyola University. In 2016 the kindergarten, which had 104 places, had 25 to 35 students who were zoned to Lusher.

The Greater New Orleans Collaborative of Charter Schools director, Ken Ducote, stated that this boundary may have been established after public schools in New Orleans were desegregated. The attendance boundary was preserved because parents and employees voted to make Lusher a charter school just prior to the hurricane's arrival. All of the other New Orleans schools lost their attendance boundaries after Katrina hit New Orleans. In the post-Katrina period the attendance area, previously economically mixed, became wealthier. In 2010 the board of Lusher Charter voted to extend the attendance boundary so that only Kindergarteners received automatic admissions based on their residences. In 2011 the CEO of Lusher, Kathy Riedlinger, criticized families who moved into Lusher's attendance zone specifically to gain admission for their children, arguing that the attendance zone was only meant to be used by longtime families already living in the area. At that time OPSB officials had discussed the possibility that the attendance zone could be discontinued.

In 2014 members of the Advancement Project filed a federal civil rights complaint that criticized several aspects of New Orleans school admissions, including Lusher Charter's attendance boundary; the group argued that the boundary was intended to inhibit the enrollment of African-Americans. The head of the Louisiana Department of Education, criticized the complaint, referring to it as a "joke". That year Lusher officials stated that the attendance boundary would remain.

On September 10, 2015 the Orleans Parish School Board voted to end Lusher's attendance boundary effective fall 2017.

Project Pride

The core value system of Lusher consists of a set of four rules known as the “Project Pride” which was conceived by CEO/Head of School Kathy Riedlinger and is used in all grades from kindergarten through 12th grade. "Project Pride" sets the tone for the special culture that exists in the Lusher community.

1. Be Kind
2. Be Responsible
3. Respect People and Property
4. Do Your Best Work

Student government

Constitution

The Lusher Charter High School Student Government Association is organized by a constitution which has been written, ratified and revised by students since 2005. The preamble to the current constitution, ratified by the Student Body on May 5, 2008 states:

"As active and concerned members of Lusher Charter High School and the Lusher community, for the purposes of giving equal and fair representation to the students at Lusher Charter High School, ensuring our continuation as active members in our community, promoting school spirit, securing the safety, trust and education of the students, providing a basis for academic and artistic achievement and keeping Lusher Charter School in good standing with other schools and the community, we do herby ordain and establish this document as the constitution for the Lusher Charter High School Student Government."

Student Council shall consist of:

• An elected Student Body President
• An elected Student Body Vice President;
• An elected Student Body Secretary;
• An elected Student Body Treasurer;
• Three elected Class Senators from each graduating class;
• The Class President of each graduating class; and
• The Class Vice President of each graduating class.

Clubs

Lusher High School has many different clubs and other student organizations spanning a broad array of interests. As of September 2008 the high school has eighteen officially registered clubs.

List of Clubs

The current list of recognized and established clubs (as of August 2009) is listed below:

• Quiz Bowl Team
• Film Club
• KEY Club
• World Language and Culture Club
• French Club
• Urban Farming Club
• Lusher Post-Diluvian (student newspaper)
• Lusher Podcast Project
• Psychology Club
• Culinary Club
• Fellowship of Christian Athletes (F.C.A.)
• National Honor Society
• Spanish Honor Society
• Invisible Children [1]
• Chess Club
• Hispanic Club
• Debate Team
• Tech Club
• Race Alliance
• Duck Hunting Club
• References

External links

• Lusher Charter School website
• Lusher Podcast Project website
• EducateNow! website