Lusher Charter School

Lusher Charter School
Address
7315 Willow Street 5624 Freret Street New Orleans, Louisiana, LA 70115 U.S.
Information
Type	Public Charter School
Motto	Celebrating cultural diversity through high academics and the arts.
Established	1917
School district	New Orleans Public Schools
Grades	K–12
Color(s)	Blue and Gold
Athletics conference	Louisiana High School Athletic Association
Mascot	Lions
Information	504-862-5110 505-304-3960
Website	School website

Lusher Charter School is a K-12 charter school in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, in the heart of the university area. Lusher is chartered by Advocates for Arts Based Education (AABE), which acts as the board for the entire school. Lusher School has three uptown campuses; the K-5 program is housed at the Willow Street campus, the middle and high schools are both located at the Fortier campus on Freret Street, and a temporary campus was housed at the Jewish Community Center on St. Charles Avenue.

Danielle Dreilinger of The Times Picayune described the school as "exceptionally popular" and "one of the best public elementary schools in Louisiana".

Lusher was founded in 1917 and for its first few decades only taught grades K-6 at its Willow Street campus. Then, in 1990, Lusher moved its sixth grade class into the unused Carrollton Courthouse building at 719 South Carrollton Avenue; the school then expanded to include seventh and eighth grades while keeping the Willow Street campus for its K-5 program.

In 2003 however, the school began discussing the possibility of opening a high school. In 2005, the school applied to the Orleans Parish School Board to become a charter school and open a high school for the following school year but on April 11 of that year, the charter was denied. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina however, the school’s second attempt at gaining a charter was successful. Lusher Charter High School opened its doors for the first time on January 17, 2006 with 48 students and only 9th and 10th grades and six high school only teachers (one for each subject: math, science, social studies, English, French and Spanish). The high school was housed at the Carrollton Courthouse with the middle school for its first semester. Due to space limitations at the Carrollton campus, both the middle school and high school had to find a new home. In August 2006, both schools moved to their new campus, the defunct Alcee Fortier High School, on Freret Street.

Filming for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant took place at Lusher's Fortier campus during spring 2008. In May, Lusher's first senior class of thirty-five students was offered over two million dollars in college scholarships and included three national merit winners and a semifinalist for a Presidential Scholarship in the Arts. In summer of 2009, the Brees Family Field was completed with the assistance of Drew and Brittany Brees and the Brees Dream Foundation.

...
Wikipedia