SCHOOL OFFICIALS, ALGIERS COMMUNITY CELEBRATE GROUNDBREAKING AT L.B. LANDRY

School is fourth ‘Quick Start’ groundbreaking in six months

New Orleans, LA - Nov 14, 2008  - A new chapter in the history of L.B. Landry High School was written today as school officials and local leaders, joined by alumni and supporters, broke ground on a new, $54 million high school in Algiers. The event was the fourth school groundbreaking in six months under the Quick Start school initiative, designed to jump start public school construction in New Orleans.

“We’re here today because of the tremendous efforts of many, including alumni and supporters of L.B. Landry High, who worked tirelessly to make sure that this cornerstone of Algiers would come back to educate generations to come,” said State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek.

“When we launched the Quick Start initiative a year ago, we did so because we knew the children of New Orleans couldn’t wait for world-class educational facilities. Today’s groundbreaking offers visible evidence of our commitment to providing the city’s children with 21st Century schools.”

School officials acknowledged the efforts of New Orleans City Councilman James Carter, who represents District C, and community members who participated in the planning process for the school. They also thanked those with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Louisiana Recovery Authority who worked closely with the Recovery School District to ensure that Landry and other construction projects could be fully funded.  Also recognized were Global Green New Orleans, which is funding several innovations to make Landry more energy efficient and sustainable, and the Louisiana Public Health Institute, which through its School Health Connection, is funding a school-based health clinic at the new Landry.

The Landry project is latest in new wave of school construction that will provide New Orleans with dozens of new or completely renovated schools in the coming years. This and other “Quick Start” schools are included in $716 million Phase One of the School Facilities Master Plan, a blueprint that will guide future public school renovation and construction in New Orleans. The master plan was approved on Thursday, November 6 by the Orleans Parish School Board and on Wednesday, November 12 by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

 “This is a great day for the Algiers, and we’re overjoyed that it finally arrived,” said Darryl Williams, president of Friends of Landry, a group comprised of Landry alumni and supporters. “This school has always been an integral part of this community. That’s why we fought so hard to bring it back.”

Williams is a member of the steering committee that has been active in planning the future of programs at Landry. Plans call for Landry to be a college preparatory high school that will give students the option to concentrate on three career themes: health sciences, industrial design and communications. Like other RSD high schools, Landry will offer dual enrollment opportunities at local colleges and universities. Students who qualify can earn both high school and college credit for courses outside of Landry’s curriculum.

First dedicated in 1938 as a high school for black students during segregation, the high school was named for Lord Beaconsfield Landry, a prominent physician who practiced medicine in Algiers for 30 years. In 1958, a new building was constructed at what is now 1912 L.B. Landry Avenue (formerly Whitney Avenue).The outdated and deteriorating building was demolished earlier this year.

The new Landry will be a three-story,  210,000-square-foot facility with a total of 52 teaching stations, including career technology labs, visual and performing arts labs and classrooms for core curriculum, visual arts labs, rehearsal spaces for dance, choir, band and art, and a black box theater. It will have a 650-seat auditorium, a gym for competition and an auxiliary gym for practices.  The building will be energy efficient and is expect to reduce energy cost by 30 percent. Global Green is funding an irrigation system, a solar hot water system and other sustainable elements. The building is designed to the new International Building Code, which requires it be able to withstand 125 mph winds. It will be elevated to meet new flood elevation requirements. All critical electrical equipment will be located on the third floor. In a nod to the old Landry, classroom wings will be organized to create a central courtyard as an outdoor space for the student body, focused around a mature existing magnolia tree.

The school was designed by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, a New Orleans architectural firm. The contractor is Satterfield and Pontikes. The new school is expected to be completed for a fall 2010 opening.

An innovative feature of the new Landry facility will be a state-of-the-art comprehensive school based health center (SBHC), integrated with the school nursing program.  Research indicates that SBHCs improve access to quality care, facilitate higher compliance with immunizations, sports, and annual preventive exams, and reduce absenteeism from school due to physical and mental or behavioral illnesses.  This addition to Landry is made possible through a generous grant from Kellogg Foundation. The grant is being administered via the School Health Connection Program, an affiliated program of the Louisiana Public Health Institute. The RSD has made the commitment to ensure that all new and renovated facilities include health programs, and School Health Connection will continue to partner to ensure that these clinics projects are successfully implemented.

Other Quick Start projects include the construction of a new Langston Hughes Elementary School on Trafalgar Street; the complete renovation of and addition to Andrew H. Wilson Elementary School in the Broadmoor neighborhood; the construction of a new high school at the site at the former Lake Area Middle School on Paris Avenue; and the construction of a new Fannie C. Williams Elementary School on Dwyer Road. Work is currently underway at on the Hughes, Wilson and Lake Area sites. The Fannie C. Williams project is currently in the design phase.

Another construction project expected to get underway in the coming weeks is the complete renovation of Joseph A. Craig School in Treme. The RSD will be receiving construction bids next week and anticipates awarding the contract in December.