Achieving Excellent Schools for Every Child In New Orleans

The mission of New Schools for New Orleans is to achieve excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans by:

  1. Attracting and preparing talent to teach and lead
  2. Launching and supporting open-enrollment public charter schools
  3. Advocating for accountable and sustainable high-quality public schools

Attract and Prepare. Our work in human capital is grounded in the belief that the best way to improve public education is to center resources, decision-making and accountability as close to children as possible. This requires an investment in both teachers and school leaders. Our partners in this effort, teachNOLA and New Leaders for New Schools, recruit and place passionate, accountable teachers and school leaders in New Orleans public schools.

Launch and Support.   This work is continuously evolving to match the needs of the ecosystem with our own staff capacity. Through our new school initiatives, NSNO has dramatically increased the number of high-performing schools; now, we work to establish the opportunity for the growth of high-quality charter networks by providing funding to help the expansion of proven operators such as ReNEW CMO, FirstLine Schools and Achievement Network. 

Advocate. Our advocacy efforts have been integral in aligning the charter movement around an aggressive reform agenda and bringing to the NO public education landscape proven, high-quality providers focused on closing the achievement gap.  In order for parental choice to effectively transform the educational options for the most at-risk children, we contributed to the production of the New Orleans Parents' Guide to Public Schools and supported the development of the Parent Organizing Network and the Special Education Co-Op.  In addition, our efforts to bolster the development of highly effective governing boards have reached almost all charter schools citywide. 

Excellent public schools for all children is the single goal of NSNO and it drives every decision we make. As we continue to recruit talented and committed teachers, principals and board members and advocate for school quality, NSNO relentlessly strives to achieve this ambitious yet attainable goal.