On May 5, in New York City, at a gathering for Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, First Lady Michelle Obama honored the efforts of organizations nationwide in implementing innovative social reforms.
Among the groups singled out in her opening speech was NOLA 180, a non-profit charter management organization dedicated to turning around failing schools in New Orleans.
Langston Hughes Academy (LHA) is the flagship school for NOLA 180. In the fall of 2009, LHA will move into the first new public school building built in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. LHA is a tuition-free public school open to all students regardless of race, class or prior academic performance. Its unique and aggressive approach to education exemplifies the ideal of the "New" New Orleans.
Featuring a college-prep curriculum and an extended school day, Langston Hughes Academy provides 50 percent more instructional time than traditional public schools. LHA also utilizes extra support structures such as after-school homework help for all students and cell phone access to teachers for parents. In 2011, NOLA 180 will deploy a transformation team and set its sights on turning around an established, failing local public school. The mission of all schools operated by NOLA 180 is to send all students to college by preparing them for the city's selective admissions public and private high schools.
Post-Katrina New Orleans has proved to be a laboratory for social change and innovation in many ways. NOLA 180 and Langston Hughes Academy represent the forefront of a call-to-arms for the education of America's future. Come to New Orleans and see for yourself how the largest public education reform effort in the U.S. is working.
NOLA 180's leadership includes John Alford, who serves as school leader for Langston Hughes Academy and CEO of NOLA 180. Alford served as the National Director of Trailblazing for the KIPP Foundation, from 2001-2005, launching more than 32 schools including the first KIPP school in New Orleans, La. Prior to founding NOLA 180, he taught fifth-grade math at KIPP Ujima Village Academy in Baltimore, MD where his students scored in the top 15 percent in the city on the Maryland State Assessment, gaining over two grade levels of growth over a seven-month span. Mark Martin, who taught first grade in Atlanta for three years as part of the Teach for America program, came to New Orleans to join the founding staff of NOLA 180. In his second year at Carter G. Woodson Elementary, Martin was named Employee of the Year for his commitment to his students and the school culture. He was the first-grade chairperson and also chaired the school leadership team, which developed and implemented new academic and operational ideas for the school. He has been a volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club, and Boy Scouts of America, as well as serving and leading on several mission trips to Mexico, southern Africa, and Baton Rouge following Hurricane Katrina.
To ensure that it successfully prepares New Orleans students for college and the challenges of the 21st century, NOLA 180 has partnered with Teach for America, Echoing Green, teachNOLA, New Schools for New Orleans and New Orleans Outreach.
This article was originally published in the May 25, 2009 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper |
