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NOLA-PS COVID Tracker updates to resume Sept. 20
(New Orleans - Sept. 13, 2021) – Today, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) restarted school-based COVID-19 testing that will provide testing at 91 school sites this week to help ensure the health and safety of our school community, as students start heading back to school this week.
“COVID-19 safety and testing remain top priorities across our school system, especially since many families evacuated to areas where the resurgence of COVID-19 may be high or people may not have worn masks while cleaning up their homes, due to the hot temperatures,” said NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. “Testing is crucial now more than ever, because we want to return our students, teachers, and staff to school as safely as possible.”
In addition to providing high quality, molecular tests at 91 school sites, which includes Type 2 schools authorized by the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), and multiple sites across charter networks, the District will also provide access to molecular COVID-19 testing at the following 3 school community testing sites. These locations will be open to all students and staff within our school community.
NOLA PS School Community Testing provided by CORE:
● Wednesday, 9/15 - Hynes Lakeview @ 990 Harrison Ave. - Testing from 8:30-3:30pm
● Thursday, 9/16 - Landry High School @ 1200 LB Landry Ave. - Testing from 8:30-3:30pm
● Friday, 9/17 - Abramson Sci Academy @ 5552 Read Blvd.- Testing from 8:30-3:30pm
Families and school staff are highly encouraged to get tested for COVID-19 prior to returning to school, regardless of their vaccination status. Families and staff should reach out directly to their schools for the date their school-based COVID-19 testing will be available.
Anyone in our school community can take advantage of the testing sites listed above, as well as any testing site provided by the City of New Orleans.
“Please get tested at one of our sites as soon as possible. By getting tested, we can help keep our students, staff, and their families safe,” said Dr. Lewis. “It will also help us minimize quarantines and continue to successfully keep the pandemic outside of our school buildings.”
With school-based testing underway, NOLA-PS will resume its COVID-19 Tracker updates Monday, Sept. 20 and the data provided next week will include the results of this week’s robust testing program. While COVID-19 protocols may have taken a backseat for many families in the wake of Hurricane Ida due to evacuation and power loss, it is critical that we test everyone in our system before returning to the classroom. We anticipate that this robust testing plan will identify positive cases, and it is our goal to identify positive cases before staff and students return to school. Our NOLA-PS families can rest assured that all NOLA-PS’ mitigation efforts will be implemented upon school reopening to ensure the safety of our students and staff.
NOLA-PS will also restart its vaccination programs as part of the reopening effort. During these challenging times, it’s also important for families to have access to behavioral and mental health services. Families can find links to resources at www.nolapublicschools.com/hurricane-ida-resources.
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(New Orleans - Sept. 7, 2021) – Today, NOLA Public Schools and its school leaders announced that public schools in New Orleans will reopen to students between Sept. 15 and Sept. 22 as the community recovers from the impact of Hurricane Ida. All schools will notify their students’ families about when their campuses will reopen by Friday, Sept. 10.
This timeline for reopening is dependent upon continued power restoration and progress in other essential services being available across the city. Additionally, some campuses may need longer to reopen given the storm’s impact on facilities. These impacts may include building readiness, food supply, transportation readiness, and adequate staffing to accommodate the return of students.
NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. announced this reopening timeline after speaking with school leaders and hosting Louisiana Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley for a tour of Frederick A. Douglass and L.B. Landry high schools Tuesday.
“We hope this news today can give students and families a bit of certainty during these challenging times,” Dr. Lewis said. “Now more than ever, our children stand to benefit from the comfort that structured and routine daily schooling can bring. So, let’s all come together to reopen our schools quickly and safely.”
“Schools have been challenged over the last year and a half in response to COVID-19, and I would place the Louisiana educational community up against anything in this country for their heroic efforts,” said Dr. Brumley. “And that’s not just with COVID. We’ve had powerful storms to hit this state like Zeta, Laura, Delta, and Ida. Our state needs educators to continue doing hero's work over the next months and years. We can and will make a Louisiana Comeback.”
School leaders and NOLA-PS have assessed all school buildings and found minimal to moderate damage from Hurricane Ida. Much of that can be attributed to the $2 billion infrastructure investment in New Orleans’ public schools after Hurricane Katrina.
“Our schools were rebuilt stronger and smarter, taking full advantage of that federal investment to preserve quality education here in New Orleans,” Dr. Lewis said. “What we need now is further investment in our schools at the state and federal level to build all of them into the resilient palaces our children deserve.”
As schools reopen, COVID-19 safety remains a top priority across the District. Families are highly encouraged to get tested for COVID-19 prior to returning to the City and to school. Taking that step will help us all minimize quarantines and continue to successfully keep the pandemic outside our school buildings.
NOLA-PS will be restarting its testing and vaccination programs as part of the reopening effort. It’s also important for families to have access to behavioral and mental health services during these challenging times. Families can find links to resources at nolapublicschools.com/hurricane-ida-resources.
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(New Orleans – July 30, 2021) – NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) recently learned some families may have received inaccurate information concerning seat availability at the James M. Singleton Charter School for the 2021-2022 school year.
NOLA-PS would like to confirm that the James M. Singleton Charter School has available K-8 seats for the upcoming school year. If parents are interested in enrolling their students at the James M. Singleton Charter School, they may do so by selecting the James M. Singleton Charter School through the Summer Enrollment Form on the Enroll NOLA website or at a Family Resource Center.
If parents have tried to enroll their student at the James M. Singleton Charter School and were unable to do so, please contact NOLA-PS for assistance, via this email: direct@nolapublicschools.com.
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(NEW ORLEANS - Sept. 2, 2021) – Today, NOLA Public Schools and its school community announced they have completed assessments of almost all of the District’s schools and facilities.
The buildings, many of which were rebuilt or buttressed during the $2 billion federally funded school rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina, sustained minimal to no damage due to Hurricane Ida.
The assessment of the remaining school buildings and NOLA-PS facilities will continue through Friday. NOLA-PS continues to be in constant communication with school leaders on how best to serve their schools’ needs and the needs of their families.
The reopening of schools is directly dependent on the restoration of power, which began in New Orleans East and the French Quarter this week.
“It has been encouraging to see lights come back on in sections of the City,” said Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. “With those welcome signs, we hope the power is restored fast enough to let us invite students back to class as soon as possible. For now, we will continue to focus on caring for our schools, our teachers, our staff and our families and hope power is restored to the city quickly.”
“Our schools are intrinsically linked to the return of our way of life,” Orleans Parish School Board President Ethan Ashley said. “They provide the best learning environment for students and comfort to parents who are working through how to return to the City and restart their livelihoods. We need our schools open and running as soon as we can do so safely.”
NOLA-PS is working to establish a headquarters for coordinating the reopening efforts. Meanwhile, our operations team continues to assist its school networks in assessing the condition of all school buildings.
The City of New Orleans has opened water and food distribution sites. We encourage families to visit ready.nola.gov to find out where they can pick up supplies and for more information about the Hurricane Ida recovery.
NOLA-PS will continue to regularly inform the public of its progress.
“The Number One goal remains ensuring the welfare of our people – our educators, our staff, and our students,” Dr. Lewis said. “We are appreciative of the food distribution centers, the cooling stations, and the other accommodations the City has made to care for our NOLA-PS families and the people of New Orleans.”
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The requirement will start Friday, July 23. This will not affect the start of the new school year.
(New Orleans – Jul 21, 2021) — Today, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and city health officials issued an indoor mask advisory in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases, due to the Delta variant. As a result, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) will require masks be worn inside all school buildings, regardless of an individual's vaccination status, starting Friday, July 23.
This requirement is designed to protect our youngest students who are the most vulnerable and not yet able to get the vaccine. The indoor mask requirement will stay in place until the city’s health data improves and after further consultation with our local health care leaders and NOLA-PS Medical Advisors.
The full return to in-person learning for our students will remain in effect. As stated by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, in-person learning is necessary to provide the best quality education to students, and we will strive to preserve it throughout the 2021-2022 school year with heightened safety and health protocols as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We trust the recommendations of our health officials, and this requirement will not affect the start of in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year. We are looking forward to a great school year where our children will, once again, be able to learn alongside their teachers and peers,” said Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. “Ultimately, we are in this together and we believe by working together - we are stronger together.”
NOLA-PS continues to encourage all eligible students 12 years and older and all school-based staff to continue to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before the start of the school year. Federal, state, and local health officials have consistently expressed that vaccination is the best protection against this virus and the best strategy to end this pandemic.
The health of NOLA Public Schools’ students, teachers, and staff remains our top priority, and the indoor mask requirement will help protect our school community. According to the New Orleans City Health Department, the number of new cases of COVID-19 is 9 times higher than it was 2 weeks ago, and all other data trends have increased on a similar trajectory.
“We need to lower these numbers,” said NOLA-PS Medical Advisor Dr. Ryan H. Pasternak. “After a year of monitoring data, we know the virus does not typically spread inside our schools when masked during educational activities. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, and following recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics to mitigate the spread of the Delta variant, we are requiring everyone inside of a school facility to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status.”
The NOLA-PS COVID-19 Guidance will be updated online by Friday, July 23. All other guidelines found there remain in place.
The guidance outlines our plans to continue to protect our students, teachers, and staff from COVID-19 and its variants. As the pandemic continues to evolve, NOLA Public Schools will continue to coordinate with our local health care and government leaders to monitor and track our city’s COVID-19 data to ensure we make the most informed decisions for the wellbeing of our students and school staff.
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