Louisiana Connections Academy, the state’s first virtual school, will hold its graduation ceremony for its third graduating senior class on May 30, 2014 at the Independence Park Theater in Baton Rouge, LA at 1:00pm.  

93 seniors from all across the state of Louisiana will be graduating from Louisiana Connections Academy’s Class of 2014. Louisiana Connections Academy, the state’s first free virtual K-12 charter school, is still accepting applications for enrollment for the 2014-15 school year and will be conducting online information sessions for prospective parents and students throughout the next months. Parents can visit www.LouisianaConnectionsAcademy.com for more information.  

Max Daigh, manager of School Performance for the Louisiana Department of Education, will be the ceremony’s guest speaker. Awards and presentations of scholarships will also be handed out.  

Benjamin Franklin High School held its 2013 – 2014 commencement ceremony, Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena. Franklin awarded diplomas to 178 students. Mr. Nolan Marshall, Jr., President of the Orleans Parish School Board, was the commencement speaker.

During the ceremony the Franklin Alumni Association presented the Key Award to Addison Howenstine. The Key Award is given to the senior who best exemplifies the spirit and broad-based excellence of Mr. Benjamin Franklin.  

The Valedictorian was Jessica Garda who will be attending Duke University and the Salutatorian was Luke Tang who will be attending Harvard College.

Warren Easton Charter High School student Markesha Favis was recently named the recipient of the 2014 Greater New Orleans Hotel Lodging Foundation Association Scholarship Award.

Markehsa was presented an $8,000 scholarship on May 7th by Mavis Early, Executive Director of GNOHLA, and Tod Chambers, General Manager of the The Roosevelt Hotel.

Markesha will continue her post-secondary education at the University of New Orleans, majoring in Hospitality (Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Administration).

How did you become involved with KIPP New Orleans Schools?
Jodi Aamodt – a past KNOS chair – had been extolling the virtues of KNOS for years before I joined the Board.  I knew Jodi well and the immediate past chair (John Landrum) who slowly began “kippnotizing” me.  I visited a  
couple of KNOS schools and was instantly hooked on the extraordinary work of the KNOS staff.  After becoming a board member, I visited KIPP Believe Primary and had a fantastic morning.  The energy and warmth of the kindergartners coupled with the caring and nurturing instruction left an indelible impression.
 
Why did you say yes when asked to serve?
New Orleanians realize systemic issues existed in the City before Hurricane Katrina, many of which have greatly improved post-Katrina.  One of the most improved areas is public education as a direct result of the diligence and talent of charter school teachers, school leaders, and executive management.  It is exciting to be a small part of the efforts to double down on the charter school movement and its progressive work.  Plus, KIPP has a national and local track record of working well with community stakeholders to ensure high quality education and a deep-seated commitment to providing a pathway to college and beyond. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
 
What was compelling about the opportunity?
The chance to work with a talented and dedicated staff as well as a committed Board to ensure meaningful educational opportunities for the children of New Orleans was too hard to pass up.  There are many good non-profits doing great work and I have been fortunate enough to be associated with some of them.  But the educational space is critically important to the sustainability and growth of New Orleans.  I was and remain honored to be working toward that end.
 
What leadership roles have you had while serving on the Board?
I was the chair of the KNOS Development Committee and am currently chair of the Board.
 
Is there anything you know now that you wish you knew before?
The charter school movement has its own language and content.  We’ve been fortunate to have Rhonda’s talented team and Board members such as Steve Rosenthal spend their valuable time teaching us the intricacies of charter schools.  Concepts such as MFP and i3 funding meant nothing before I became a Board member so I wish I knew more about the financing before joining the KNOS Board.

About KIPP New Orleans Schools
KNOS is a fast-growing network of tuition-free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools that currently operates nine schools in the Recovery School District, serving approximately 3,800 students from grades Kindergarten through twelfth. The network will be opening one new school for 2014-2015 school year, KIPP East Community Primary, the fifth elementary school. When the current growth plan is complete, KNOS will operate twelve schools, serving over 5,300 students in New Orleans.

The Top Shelf
The success of a charter school hinges largely on the decisions of its governing board. The Top Shelf enhances the capacity of charter school boards through professional development, board recruitment and community engagement. 

President of the Orleans Parish School Board will speak at Benjamin Franklin High School’s 54th Commencement on Tuesday, May 20, 2014.  

“We are grateful to Mr. Marshall for agreeing to address this year’s graduating class,” said Principal/CEO, Dr. Timothy Rusnak. “His commitment to education and the Greater New Orleans community resonates with the mission of Benjamin Franklin High School.”  

Mr. Marshall is a native New Orleanian, educated at McCarty Elementary in the Lower Ninth Ward at what is now Martin Luther King Elementary, St. Augustine High School, Loyola University and the University of New Orleans.   Elected to the Orleans Parish School Board in 2012, Mr. Marshall currently serves as President of the Orleans Parish School Board. 

Mr. Marshall has served on several local nonprofit boards and has been a member and officer in many school and community organizations.  He presently serves on the board of directors for the Bayou District Foundation which has the responsibility for the redevelopment of the St. Bernard Housing Project area.  

He is married to a former public school English teacher and attorney Dianne Jones Marshall, father of two daughters and one son, five granddaughters and two grandsons.     

How did you become involved with this ReNEW Schools?
I first applied to the Top Shelf at the request of a friend and fellow YLC board member, Derrick Rogers, who was extremely involved with the organization.  I was asked to be a part of the Development and Marketing Committee because my previous job and volunteer experiences have been in those fields.
 
Why did you say yes when asked to serve?
ReNEW has shown that there are youngsters in the community that aren’t given an opportunity to develop/learn skills that will benefit them for the future whether that be in college or the workforce. ReNEW takes on an inventive way of embracing students that have been abandoned in their schooling and gives them another opportunity rather than allowing them to fall by the waste side.
 
What was compelling about the opportunity?
Fundraising and event management are always important for schools especially ones that are relatively new.  Working with ReNEW’s Development & Marketing Committee gives me an opportunity to offer my experiences in both of these fields to support a significant, innovative organization.
 
What leadership roles have you had while serving on the board?
While serving on the Development & Marketing Committee, I helped oversee the planning of the Chili in the Channel Event in February which was a huge success.  We raised a substantial amount of money for the students of ReNEW while serving some of the best chili our competitors had to offer.  I look forward to growing and planning for next year.  
 
Is there anything you know now that you wished you had known before?
Whether it is a young teenager who didn’t have a chance to finish high school because she was raising a child like (ReNEW Accelerated High School) or a young boy who has the ability to pursue his dreams of becoming an engineer by competing in a Robotics competition (ReNEW SciTech), these students have a new lease on life. ReNEW gives them an opportunity that before didn’t exist.  I wish I knew how innovative and beneficial ReNEW was to our community because I would have gotten involved a long time ago.

On Tuesday, May 6, 2014, from midnight to midnight, the Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools is participating in GiveNOLA Day.  Developed by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, GiveNOLA is an exciting new resource that connects you with us to make supporting our work easier than ever! On May 6th, every donation of $10 and above that you make will be increased if you donate through GiveNOLA.org, helping support the Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools.

How did you become involved with this charter school?
I got involved with the Board of Trustees for the Lafayette Charter Foundation in March 2012. At that time it only existed as a dream in the hearts of a few community members and a charter school management company known as Charter Schools USA (CSUSA). Once I heard about CSUSA’s dream to open a charter school in 
Lafayette Parish, it took hold of my imagination and piqued my interest!!!
 
A local elected official informed me of plans by CSUSA to open a school in Lafayette, Louisiana. This was at the time that Governor Bobby Jindal was proposing a comprehensive Educational Reform package for Louisiana that focused heavily on the development of charter schools. This elected official suggested that I drive to the state capitol, attend these legislative hearings and meet one of the officials from CSUSA. I drove to Baton Rouge, sat in on some of the hearings and telephoned the CSUSA representative who had already left by the time I arrived. I was intrigued by the Governor’s proposals to link teacher pay to student performance and replace teacher tenure with a close look at educational outcomes. I thought that this new educational model that charter schools were embracing would do a lot to improve education in Louisiana’s public schools.
 
Why did you say yes when asked to serve?
I said “YES” when I was asked to serve because I already had a fire for charter school reform burning deep down in my soul!!! I first became intrigued with the power of charter schools while serving as a church pastor in Washington, DC in 2004.
 
At that time I attended a public charter school graduation and was amazed with the enthusiasm that I saw among the students, parents, and faculty. The atmosphere was electric!!! I had a hard time remembering when I saw so much excitement at a traditional public school graduation. I kept wondering about what was going on in this charter school that made everyone so excited. I remember thinking that every graduation should be like that.
 
Sometime in 2004 or 2005 I envisioned our church establishing a public charter school in Washington, DC. I teamed up with two members of my congregation to make it happen. We formed an education corporation and served as the initial board of directors. Our goal was to support the vision of the superintendent for DC Public Schools and open a charter school for middle school students. We worked with an educational consultant and prepared a grant application that was awarded $520,000. This funding was for a 3-year Pre-Charter Planning and Implementation Grant under President George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” Initiative.
 
When I moved to Louisiana in 2008 I brought my vision and passion for charter schools with me. I wanted to see low-income, disadvantaged students on the north side of town attend a clearly excellent educational institution that would prepare them for college and for life. On a national level, Louisiana was near the bottom in education and, to me, quality public charter schools could help reverse this trend.
 
I supported the drastic educational reforms that were being proposed by Governor Jindal and many state legislators in 2012. I felt that these reforms would quickly improve the quality of education for students in Louisiana. Becoming a board member for the Lafayette Charter Foundation would help me make that dream come true.
 
What was compelling about the opportunity?
One compelling factor was the successful track record of the management company. CSUSA has been operating high performing charter schools in several states for over 15 years. Their first school was opened in downtown Miami and was built to serve inner city youth and families. Downtown Miami Charter School is an “A” rated school and has shown phenomenal progress over the years. I lived in downtown Miami while I was in elementary school and was familiar with the challenges that schools face when educating inner city children. I thought that if CSUSA could produce successful results there, they could be successful anywhere! Other compelling factors for me were learning that CSUSA is the first SACS accredited charter school management company in the country (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools); CSUSA is approved to offer certificates by the University of Cambridge in England ; CSUSA provides every student with an Individual Education Plan and CSUSA embraces a core educational principle by education researcher, Robert Marzano, that “every child can learn.”
 
What leadership roles have you had while serving on the board?
I have served as the board’s incorporator, the initial President and I currently serve as Vice President for the Lafayette Charter Foundation.