Lusher Charter School

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 is a K-12 charter school in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana,[1] 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 is housed at the Jewish Community Center on St. Charles Avenue.

General information

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.[2]

Administration

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:

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:

  1. ↑ "About Lusher Charter School." Lusher Charter School. Retrieved on August 3, 2012.
  2. ↑ Lipinski, Jed. "Attorney general says Lusher must disclose admissions test name, website reports." The Times-Picayune. December 4, 2015. Updated December 7, 2015. Retrieved on December 18, 2015.
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