(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . For Living School seniors, graduating is bittersweet [1] ['Minh Ha', 'More Minh Ha', 'Verite News', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-05-22 Karis Chambers had mixed emotions on Tuesday (May 21), as she and other graduating seniors at the Living School celebrated their last week of high school. Chambers, who started attending the Living School last fall after being homeschooled for three years, is excited to graduate. Hers will be the Living School’s final graduating class, following a decision by the Orleans Parish School Board to shutter the five-year-old school at the end of the 2023-2024 school year due mostly to academic underperformance on state evaluations.. She’s proud of the friends graduating alongside her, and a little bit sad that the school is closing. The school has accommodated her schedule working as a hair stylist, lash tech and content creator, and supported her academically as well. “I don’t think I could have made it if I was at another school,” she said. “[Living School] will find a way to help you learn, find a way to help you pass, find a way to help you get to the next step.” Senior Karis Chambers wears her graduation stole as she cuts out graduation invitations at the Living School on May 21, 2024. On Tuesday, seniors lined up for graduation practice at the Lawless Memorial Chapel on Dillard University’s campus. Back at the Living School, located in a strip mall on Bullard Avenue, Living School students lined up for sno-balls and a water slide instead, as some parents sat in the shade handing out towels and cold drinks. These were some of the last moments at the Living School. Despite a months-long battle to remain open following the board’s decision not to renew the school’s charter late last year, the school is closing its doors for good. As seniors prepare for graduation, which will be held Friday (May 24), other students have had to find new schools and navigate the district’s application process, while teachers have had to search for new jobs. “It’s not fair to our kids,” said Tanya Hogan, whose daughter, Starr Smith, was part of the school’s first graduating class last year and is now studying psychology at the University of New Orleans. “They have to graduate somewhere else with new people. When you take off from here, where are you gonna go to get the support? You’re gonna have a bunch of teachers, but do you have the support? And do the teachers have the love and the patience?” The school was among several charters facing a “comprehensive evaluation” following poor standardized testing scores. After rounds of meetings and despite desperate pleas from students, parents and teachers, the board voted unanimously to close the school in December, following a recommendation from NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Avis Williams. In the past, some schools have simply dissolved following such a board vote. But the Living School, which has branded itself as focusing on equity and student decision-making, decided to fight to remain open in some form, said the school’s CEO and Superintendent Stefin Pasternak. In January, the school held three community meetings where students, teachers and families discussed ways the school could continue to operate past the end of this school year. Many students shared that they wanted to hold onto the Living School’s inclusive decision-making structure, its focus on project-based learning and its restorative approaches to discipline. The school has served as an alternative to more traditional options for students, allowing them to explore different interests through its extensive list of electives, such as woodworking and bike mechanics, according to student testimonies. Parents have also pushed for the Living School to remain open, which demonstrates the strong relationship the school has built with its students, said Dave Cash, president of the United Teachers of New Orleans, which the Living School’s teacher union is affiliated with. In a January interview, Cash said that closures, especially for high schools, might also impact graduation rates in New Orleans by creating a potential disruption in learning for students forced to transfer. That, in turn, could impact students’ post-graduate options, he said. Under the NOLA Public Schools district’s new accountability framework, set to go into effect this upcoming school year, the Living School likely wouldn’t have faced closure, Cash added. “Students have to learn to trust a whole bunch of new adults all over again, and trusting relationships is really the heart of teaching,” he said. “You cannot get to a student if you don’t have a good relationship with them — relationships are the most precious thing in education. And when those are disrupted, then learning is just disrupted.” Even one of the school board members who voted for the Living School’s closure praised the school’s approach. “Every school should be able to cater to the students that it serves — I haven’t heard any of our educators try to do that any better than what you have done,” OPSB member Nolan Marshall, Jr. said about the Living School at the Dec. 2023 meeting, when the board voted to pull the Living School’s charter. “You are judged by test scores more than anything else. We all know that that’s unfair, but it is it is the system that we have.” Pasternak said the Living School originally had two options to merge with other charter schools in the district — with Educators for Quality Alternatives, which operates three schools, or New Harmony High. But both those plans fell through, so the Living School also considered privatization. But he school would need to raise $1 million in a short amount of time before the next school year began in August. As a public charter school, it relied on local and state tax dollars to operate, with a budget of around $3.5 million. Raising that amount would have made tuition affordable for all students, many of whom are from lower-income families, Pasternak said. Stefin Pasternak, CEO and superintendent of the Living School, grills sausages and beef and vegan patties for his students outside of the school on May 21, 2024. Ultimately, there was no path forward. In April, Pasternak said in an email to the school community that the school would indefinitely suspend its plans to stay open next year and shift its focus on finishing out the 2023-2024 school year strong. “While we’re obviously disappointed about this, we also trust that our best days are in front of us,” he wrote in the email. “We remain incredibly proud of what we’ve done together in our 5 years as a school and our 12 years as a community.” For the roughly 130 students who aren’t graduating seniors, these past few months have been marked with uncertainty. Although students at the Living School received higher placement priority in the main round of the district’s centralized application process — standard procedure for students forced to change schools due to a closure — about 14% of its students had missed the Jan. 26 application deadline, according to data provided by Pasternak. Sophomore Jarmarrie Gordon, who is on the school’s student council, said she would miss the Living School’s democratic values — at the Living School, students get to participate in how the school is run and have successfully suggested changes, like to the dress codes and cafeteria food. In the fall, Gordon will attend George Washington Carver High School, where one of her brothers went. While she’s sad the Living School is shutting down, she said she looks forward to orientation at her new school and is excited about making new friends. Living School college and career advisor Shantell Alfred is also a Living School parent. Her two kids are part of this year’s graduating class.Joseph Davenport is the school’s valedictorian and is going to Villanova University, and his sister, Jiyah Davenport, is attending art school in Savannah, Georgia. Like some other staff and teachers at the Living School, Alfred said, she hasn’t secured a job and still doesn’t have a plan for the future. “Living School offers more than just a piece of paper saying what your score is,” she said. “[Students] can come here and feel safe, feel loved, feel nurtured.” The Living School will still offer some summer classes before shutting down for good. “It’s definitely been a grieving process,” Pasternak said. “But I trust the universe and trust that this is a sign that greater things are destined for us.” Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/05/22/nola-public-schools-graduation-closure/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/