Collegiate Academies

Collegiate Academies presents itself a network of five high performing, open enrollment public high schools with one, unified mission: to prepare all scholars, regardless of incoming academic level or past challenges, for college. 95% of the class of 2014 received 171 acceptances to 42 different colleges across the United States. They believe that growth is possible at every age, and create a joyful, loving environment designed to meet the individual needs of every scholar they serve.

Schools

  • Abramson Sci Academy CA
  • George Washington Carver CA
  • Livingston CA
  • Collegiate CA
  • (NEW, starting with 9th grade in summer 2018) Rosenwald CA

History

August 2008: Launch: Sci Academy opens in New Orleans East, beginning as nothing more than a sign in the neutral ground.

May 2009: Achievement: Sci Academy’s first test scores are released; scholars in the class of 2012 outperformed the district and state averages on the iLEAP and achieved the top scores of any New Orleans open enrollment high school.

April 2011: Families Enroll in Record Numbers: Interest in Sci Academy exceeds the number of seats available; Sci Academy holds an open lottery to select scholars for the class of 2015.

August 2011: Gaining National Status: The 2011-2012 school year opens with a new special education program: Essential Skills. This course for scholars with cognitive disabilities attracts the attention of numerous national educators, including Doug Lemov, creator of Teach Like a Champion.

June 2012: Headed to College: Sci Academy graduates its first class of seniors. 97% of these students were accepted to a four-year college, and they matriculated to schools across the country: including Amherst College, Colorado College, Louisiana State University, and Wesleyan University.

August 2012: 1 x 3 = Three Schools: Collegiate Academies multiplies! We open George Washington Carver Collegiate Academy and George Washington Carver Preparatory Academy and triple the number of scholars and families we serve.

February 2013: Parade Season: CA scholars participate in their first Mardi Gras parade season! Our band, dance, twirl and flag teams represent the Rams and the Nautili on the parade route.

January 2014: A Presidential Alum: Troy Simon, Sci Academy Class of 2012, introduces First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House College Opportunity Summit.

April 2014: Top High School Distinction: Sci Academy was named the #2 high school in Louisiana by US News and World Report.

September 2014: Where in the World are the Nautili? Sci Academy’s first alumni class studies abroad as juniors in college, traveling as far as Japan to expand their college careers.

Controversy

In 2013, three Collegiate Academies schools — Sci Academy, George Washington Carver Collegiate and G.W. Carver Prep — had the highest suspension rates in New Orleans.[1][2] At Carver Collegiate, 69 percent of its student body were suspended during the 2012-13 academic year; at and Carver Prep and Sci Academy, the figures were 61 percent and 58 percent, respectively.[2][3] The suspension rates led to the Southern Poverty Law Center sending an open letter to Collegiate Academies.[2] Students were sent home for matters as trivial as "laughing too much ... hugging a friend and most commonly for being 'disrespectful,'" according to The Times-Picayune.[1] Allegations of the treatment of special-education students were particularly startling, including violations of the federal law that 10 suspensions of a special-education student should trigger an immediate meeting.[1]

In 2014, a coalition called Better Education Support Team joined more than 30 students and their relatives in filing a complaint against Collegiate Academies that its disciplinary policies were so severe that they bordered on child abuse and violated federal civil rights laws.[4] The plaintiffs asked the U.S. departments of Justice and Education to investigate.[1]

The incidents that led to the complaint led to three students withdrawing and protests.[1][5][6] Students created a list of grievances that said, in part[7]:

We get disciplined for anything and everything. We get detentions or suspensions for not walking on the taped lines in the hallway, for slouching, for not raising our hands in a straightline. [sic] The teachers and administrators tell us this is because they are preparing us for college. It trains us for the military, orworse [sic], for jail.

In addition, students complained that they lacked textbooks or even a library and that the material being taught was below grade level.[7]

In 2015, Collegiate Academies were amongst the New Orleans charter schools subject to a federal judge's landmark New Orleans special education settlement that tightened the state Education Department's oversight and required third-party monitoring.[1][8]

Louisiana Department of Education issued a notice on Jan. 6, 2016, that George Washington Carver Collegiate had, indeed, violated a special-education student's rights when the school suspended him for a full month.[8]

Recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dreilinger, Danielle (8 January 2015). "New Orleans special education settlement given preliminary OK by federal judge". NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Dreilinger, Danielle (20 December 2013). "New Orleans high school protests reopen suspensions debate". NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Leonhardt, David (22 July 2018). "A Plea for a Fact-Based Debate About Charter Schools". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Dreilinger, Danielle (20 November 2014). "Civil rights complaint targets New Orleans charter group Collegiate Academies". NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  5. ↑ Dreilinger, Danielle (17 December 2013). "Three students withdraw from eastern New Orleans charters after protests". NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Simons, Meredith (5 February 2014). "The Student-Led Backlash Against New Orleans's Charter Schools". The Atlantic. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Carter Collegiate Students' List of Grievances" (PDF). Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  8. 1 2 Dreilinger, Danielle (4 February 2016). "New Orleans school violated special ed student's rights, Lens says". NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 23 July 2018.

Coordinates: 30°01′40″N 89°58′24″W / 30.0277°N 89.9734°W / 30.0277; -89.9734

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