The High School That Beat Katrina
A New Orleans high school finds academic success after surviving Hurricane Katrina
Reader Comments
New Orleans school board sucks
That’s the spirit of New Orleans; lets do this so we can keep those under achievers out of our school, in a time of need for anyone to get back in school, we have a article that give praise to teachers, parents and students trying to preserve a imagine of what, a real success story would have been to take some of those children from a school with a lower performance and really see how great Ben Franklin really could have been. Praise should be given to Edna Karr for opening it’s doors to everyone, not just a few, Ben Franklin and the New Orleans school Board should hide.
BEN FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL
One of my daughters is a Ben Franklin graduate and the other is currently a senior there, after having evacuated from New Orleans as a freshman following Hurricane Katrina. Their Franklin experience has been extremely rewarding. Many schools in the country provide for children who struggle academically and need a great deal of special assistance and resources to be successful. I am grateful there is a school to provide the education that academically gifted children deserve. Franklin is successful because of the herculean effort of the students, faculty and staff, parents and alumni every day -- from the parents and students who successfully coordinate the schools registration each year, to the parents and staff members who helped create, coordinate and facilitate the schools’ New Student Seminar Program to the parents who raise money each year for the academic and athletic pursuits. My family is African-American as is the only social worker, school nurse and numerous other faculty and staff members at Ben Franklin High School. Franklin is ethnically, racially and ideologically diverse. Diversity, tolerance and acceptance are three of its’ many assets.
Ben Franklin High School
As a native son of New Orleans who attended Franklin almost 50 years ago, I can vouch for the love Franklin alumni eternally have for their school. That the students and faculty are special people in outlook, energy and enterprise does not surprise those of us privileged to have attended.
I love Franklin, but don't forget Edna Karr, a school that did reopen to accomodate EVERYONE before schools like Franklin reopened. It was a blue ribbon, magnet school, and I don't want the legacy, or the students who made the most of their time there, especially pre-Katrina, to be forgotten!
But, on another note, congratulations to Franklin. You ARE a wonderful school.
