| Lusher Charter School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 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 public charter school that has put the arts at the core of learning.An located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lusher is chartered by Advocates for Arts Based Education (AABE), which acts as the board for the entire school. Lusher School has two uptown campuses; the K-5 program is housed at the Willow Street campus and the middle and high schools are both located at the Fortier campus on Freret Street.
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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 up a high school. In 2005, the school applied to the Orleans Parish School Board to become a charter school and open up 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 Fortier campus on Freret Street (about four blocks from Tulane University’s campus) which had previously housed Alcee Fortier Senior High School before it was closed.
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, a multipurpose stadium was completed with financial assistance from the Brees Family Foundation, and named Brees Family Field.
The core value system of Lusher consists of a set of four rules known as “Project Pride” which was conceived by Principal/CEO Kathy Riedlinger and is used in all grades from kindergarten up through the high school.
The Lusher Charter High School Student Government Association is organized by a constitution which has been written, ratified and revised by students since 2005. The preamble to the current constitution, ratified by the Student Body on May 5, 2008 states:
Student Council shall consist of:
Lusher High School has many different clubs and other student organizations spanning a broad array of interests. As of September 2008 the high school has eighteen officially registered clubs.
The current list of recognized and established clubs (as of August 2009) is listed below: