- Details
- Category: Press Releases
What:
NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) remains committed to the health and safety of our school community, and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure the District and our schools are supported through the duration of the pandemic.
It's important to note NOLA-PS follows the same COVID-19 related metrics* as the City of New Orleans, as well as information specific to its schools, to make data-driven decisions about its operations.
NOLA-PS continues to monitor key COVID-19 metrics in collaboration with our City Health Department and NOLA-PS Medical Advisors, and we will continue to monitor these data for trends over the coming weeks.
NOLA-PS also will continue to provide ongoing weekly updates on any changes related to COVID-19.
When:
Thursdays • 4 PM
Where:
Visit our COVID Case Tracker dashboard to see the latest data that shows the impact of
COVID-19 on our school community.
Update:
As of noon on Thursday, December 10, the District is tracking a total of 80 active cases of COVID-19 (26 staff; 54 students) among 46 schools in our school community. Of the 80 cases, 60 were newly confirmed since our last report on December 3, 2020.
The District’s COVID Case Tracker reports active cases over an approximately two-week period. For the purposes of our dashboard, an active case is defined as a COVID-19 case that is confirmed and within their isolation period.
All schools are required to report positive cases to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and the District. The District is continuing to stay on top of updates, collaborate with state and local agencies, and work closely with our school leaders, task force, and community stakeholders to ensure a safe 2020-2021 school year.
The data included in our COVID-19 Tracker reflects self-reported cases from our schools and provides the real-time impact of the pandemic in our school community. The goal is to provide teachers, staff, students and parents with information that can help inform decisions they make for themselves and the NOLA-PS family.
*The citywide metrics tracked include:
● New cases per day above 50 (7-day average)
○ An increase over the 7-day average would need to be part of a trend of results of “community spread” to influence decision-making, not an identified or contained outbreak.)
○ New case demographics may influence more specific alterations to our current school model.
● Positive test rate above 5% (higher test rate would need to be part of a trend)
● Loss of testing capacity for symptomatic individuals with responsible turnaround times
Prior to reverting to full-time distance learning, the District has options it can exercise to help mitigate the number of cases within our school community. They include: restricting extracurricular activities, reducing the number of grades served with in-person learning, and reducing classroom size, transportation capacity, and group maximums.
Why:
NOLA-PS will continue to prioritize in-person learning, in coordination with our local and state medical experts, as it offers a myriad of advantages, according to the CDC:
● Provide safe, supportive learning environments for students.
● Provide critical services that help meet the needs of children and families, especially those who are disadvantaged, through supporting the development of social and emotional skills, creating a safe environment for learning, identifying and addressing neglect and abuse, fulfilling nutritional needs, and facilitating physical activity.
● Reopening schools creates an opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and the future of one of America’s greatest assets—our children—while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families.
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ABOUT NOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish, which includes the district’s elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board and the district’s administration led by NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis Jr. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools.
- Details
- Category: Press Releases
Releases Special Education Resource Guide for Parents, listing more than 20 areas of assistance and 150+ vendors
(New Orleans - December 2, 2020) – In observance of National Special Education Day, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) is proud to unveil a new comprehensive Special Education Resource Guide. The guide is a way to rapidly connect people in new ways to create real and impactful change in the lives of special needs students and their families.
“The guide was created to reduce and/or eliminate barriers for locating special education resources for caregivers. It’s available, in print and online, and it seeks to help families find assistance immediately,” said NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. “With better information, not only can individuals and families use program resources more efficiently, but they can also be matched more effectively to their individual needs.”
After receiving input from NOLA-PS’ Special Education Advisory Council, the Enrollment Team, schools, parents, and other partners, the Exceptional Children’s Services Department (ECS) has been working tirelessly to compose a thorough set of resources, with embedded accessibility features, for diverse learners across the city of New Orleans. The Special Education Resource Guide is a living document that contains more than 20 areas of assistance, boasting more than 150 organization and providers.
The vision of NOLA Public Schools notes, “All students receive a high-quality education that fosters their individual capabilities, while ensuring that they thrive and are prepared for civic, social, and economic success.” With the unveiling of this new guide, NOLA-PS is proudly providing another resource that will ensure the execution of the District’s vision statement.
Printed copies of the guide can be picked-up at the following locations:
NOLA-PS Exceptional Children’s Services Departments / Family Resource Centers:
NOLA-PS Family Resource Center:
About National Special Education Day
On December 2nd, National Special Education Day commemorates the anniversary of the nation’s first federal special education law. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was signed into law on December 2, 1972.
IDEA made education available to all American children and this day honors the progress that has been made in special education. Before IDEA, many individuals with disabilities received little to no education. Schools were not required to make accommodations for children with disabilities. While some states offered special schools, the education and resources were not necessarily equal. Additionally, many parents couldn’t afford to send their children away to a special school.
The law stipulated that children with disabilities had a right to the same free education that every other child had access to. Between the ages of 3 and 21, there are 13 different areas where children may qualify under the IDEA for services. IDEA was instrumental in increasing graduation rates for students with disabilities.
IDEA resulted in many changes beyond bringing students equal education. The integration of students also helps to remove the stigma of disabilities. Another result of IDEA was the stimulation of technology for students with disabilities and for the classrooms. These technologies improved the education of all students.
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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district’s administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
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- Category: Press Releases
Contributions from Rockefeller and Greater New Orleans foundations extend testing to end of 2020-2021 school year
(New Orleans – November 17, 2020) – NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) has secured $775,000 in grants to expand COVID-19 testing efforts that have been integral to the preservation of in-person learning for students, teachers, and school staff across New Orleans.
The Rockefeller Foundation awarded NOLA-PS $675,000 and the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) delivered an additional $100,000 that NOLA-PS plans to spend on more COVID-19 tests, health and safety staffing, and increased data tracking to inform how to best marshal available resources to schools and help continue to mitigate the spread of this virus.
The grants will allow NOLA-PS to expand its COVID-19 testing efforts beyond its already successful partnerships with Children’s and Ochsner hospitals, making testing available to schools through the end of the 2020-2021 school year.
“New Orleans has been well ahead of the curve when it comes to the diligence necessary to keep our students, staff and teachers safe,” NOLA-PS Superintendent Henderson Lewis, Jr. said. “Testing is a big part of that effort, and this funding will help expand our efforts to protect our school community as best as possible in these uncertain times.”
“Getting our kids back in school and keeping them there safely is one of our community’s highest priorities,” GNOF President & CEO Andy Kopplin said. “We are thrilled to partner with NOLA-PS and the Rockefeller Foundation to support testing that will keep our students, their families, and our teachers and school personnel safe.”
“I applaud NOLA-PS for making COVID testing such a priority in its response to the pandemic,” New Orleans Health Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno said. “It is a linchpin in our effort to slow the spread of this virus, and it will be especially crucial to help us treat both COVID and the likely rise in flu cases this winter.”
NOLA-PS’s community of schools has diligently followed our Roadmap to Reopening, the guidelines that have allowed schools to meet the needs of their students and staff while applying COVID-19 prevention techniques specific to their varied facilities and missions.
Additionally, NOLA-PS has facilitated mobile testing sites in partnership with Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, as well as partnering with the City of New Orleans, the Louisiana Department of Health and the U.S. National Guard to encourage people to use community testing sites stations around New Orleans.
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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district’s administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
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- Category: Press Releases
(New Orleans – November 19, 2020) – Ahead of the Thanksgiving Holiday, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) is encouraging New Orleanians to continue to adhere to safety measures that slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our school communities safe.
“Now is not the time to let our guard down. We have made a tremendous effort across New Orleans to stay safe, and that is why our schools are open while many cities are closing their schools,” said NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. “Let’s keep it up. Please limit your amount of contact with people outside of your immediate family during the holidays. Mask up. Stay socially distanced. Wash your hands. We can do this, together.”
Dr. Lewis, NOLA-PS Chief Operating Officer Tiffany Delcour, NOLA-PS medical adviser Dr. Ben Springgate, and Greater New Orleans Foundation CEO & President Andy Kopplin spoke to the media Thursday, Nov. 19, to inform the public about the latest COVID-19 tracking data and the status of in-person learning in NOLA-PS schools.
NOLA-PS follows the same metrics as the City of New Orleans, as well as information specific to its schools, to make data-driven decisions about its operations.
While city data show a rise in the average daily new cases, other metrics are staying strong. As a city we are below the 5-percent positivity rate and our community has robust access to COVID-19 testing. These factors and information delivered from our schools show there isn’t a need for a system-wide closure at this time.
The citywide metrics tracked include:
• New cases per day above 50 (7-day average)
o An increase over the 7-day average would need to be part of a trend of results of “community spread” to influence decision-making, not an identified or contained outbreak.)
o New case demographics may influence more specific alterations to our current school model.
• Positive test rate above 5% (higher test rate would need to be part of a trend)
• Loss of testing capacity for symptomatic individuals with responsible turnaround times
Additionally, schools self-report confirmed COVID-19 cases and close contacts to NOLA-PS every week. NOLA-PS reports these data to the public on its COVID-19 Case Tracker dashboard.
Prior to reverting to full-time distance learning, the District has options it can exercise to help mitigate the number of cases within our school community. They include: restricting extracurricular activities, reducing the number of grades served with in-person learning, and reducing classroom size, transportation capacity, and group maximums.
As we work to ensure our NOLA-PS family remains healthy and safe through the duration of the pandemic, the District is continuing to provide comprehensive frontline access to COVID-19 testing options for our students and educators, in partnership with our local hospitals.
Recently, the District was awarded a total of $775,000 in grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Greater New Orleans Foundation for testing. Ultimately, the funding will be dedicated to building a plan to expand upon our existing work of providing responsive and routine testing options in order to make them readily accessible to our school community. The funding could go towards tests and nursing teams to carryout routine screenings, surveillance, and/or more responsive units.
COVID-19 Cases
As of noon on Thursday, November 19, the District is tracking a total of 54 active cases of COVID-19 (30 staff; 24 students) among our school community. Of the 54 cases, 45 were newly confirmed within the past seven days.
The District’s COVID-19 Case Tracker reports active cases over an approximately two-week period. For the purposes of our dashboard, an active case is defined as a COVID-19 case that is confirmed and within their isolation period.
All schools are required to report positive cases to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and the District. The District is continuing to stay on top of updates, collaborate with state and local agencies, and work closely with our school leaders, task force, and community stakeholders to ensure a safe 2020-2021 school year.
The data included in our COVID-19 Tracker reflects self-reported cases from our schools and provides the real-time impact of the pandemic in our school community. The goal is to provide teachers, staff, students and parents with information that can help inform decisions they make for themselves and the NOLA-PS family.
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ABOUT NOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish, which includes the district’s elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board and the district’s administration led by NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis Jr. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
- Details
- Category: Press Releases
Press Conference - Media RSVP Required.
What/Why:
As we have been throughout this pandemic, NOLA-PS remains committed to transparency and to providing important guidance to help keep our students in school and learning. We are holding this press conference to share an update on the COVID-19 numbers in our schools; how we are tracking and responding to cases; and share the importance of getting tested leading into the Thanksgiving holiday break.
ALL MEDIA MUST RSVP TO COMMUNICATIONS@NOLAPUBLICSCHOOLS.COM BY 10AM THURSDAY, NOV. 18, IF YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING. PLEASE NOTE TO LIMIT YOUR CREWS TO NO MORE THAN 2 PEOPLE. WE ALSO ASK THAT YOU RESPECT SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THAT MEMBERS OF YOUR TEAM WEAR PROTECTIVE MASKS ONSITE. OUR TEAM WILL FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES AS WELL.
WHEN:
Thursday, November 19 • 2 PM
WHERE:
NOLA-PS Central Office • 2401 Westbend Parkway, New Orleans, LA 70114
WHO:
-Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr., NOLA-PS Superintendent of Schools
-Dr. Benjamin Springgate, NOLA-PS Medical Advisor
-Andy Kopplin, Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) CEO & President
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ABOUT NOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish, which includes the district’s elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board and the district’s administration led by NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis Jr. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
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