August 9: Young Audiences Charter School Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

August 1, 2013

Contact: Pam Stewart (504) 717-1200  pam@ya4la.org
H. Harper (504) 897-6110   hharper@h2nola.com

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First charter elementary school opens in Gretna on August 9!

YOUNG AUDIENCES CHARTER SCHOOL
RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY
 
WHO: Young Audiences Charter School staff, families, students,
community members and leaders
 
WHAT: The new K-3 Young Audiences Charter School cuts a ribbon
on the first day of school for Gretna’s first open enrollment charter

WHEN: Friday, August 9, 10 a.m.
 
WHERE: Young Audiences Charter School (formerly Kate Middleton Campus)
1407 Virgil Street, Gretna, LA 70053 (504) 304-6332

WHY: After the ribbon cutting there will be a celebratory reception featuring costumed entertainers Zohar and the Free Spirit Stiltwalkers and music.
 
Slated to open with 388 students, Young Audiences Charter School will serve K-3 students in Jefferson Parish in its first year. Each following academic year, the school will add one grade to serve students in grades K-8 by Fall, 2018. This is the first charter school in Gretna and the first charter awarded to the states leading arts and education organization, Young Audiences of Louisiana.
 
Thanks to the actions of the Jefferson Parish School Board, the open enrollment, arts-integrated charter school will be located at the former Kate Middleton Campus.
 
Young Audiences Executive Director Rickie Nutik said, “After six years of providing deep academic instruction and arts integration for students in Jefferson Parish, we are so thrilled that Young Audiences Charter School is opening and will now be able to emphasize academic excellence and use research-based Young Audiences arts-integration programs to engage students and support teaching and learning.”
 
 
BACKGROUND
 Research shows that students highly involved in the arts are more likely to have improved grades, better standardized test scores, and lower dropout rates. Since 1962 the local non-profit organization Young Audiences of Louisiana has led in arts education and quality after-school programs. Students enrolled in Young Audiences after-school programs in Jefferson Parish schools outperformed their peers on standardized tests, independent analysis shows. In addition, students in these programs showed fewer disciplinary reports and increased school attendance.
 
For more information: go to www.yacharterschool.org or call (504) 304-6332. Young Audiences of Louisiana was founded in 1962 with the mission to inspire, empower, and connect children and communities through education, arts, and culture. Over the last 51 years the organization has grown the state’s largest provider of arts-integrated and afterschool programs. In 2012 Young Audiences of Louisiana employed over 250 trained teaching artists and educators to provide afterschool programs for over 2,200 students free-of-charge in the Greater New Orleans area.