Last year, Mahalia Jackson was part of a push to turn the few remaining traditional schools in New Orleans into charters. When that fell through, Orleans Parish schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. announced he wanted to close it. In April, a school board committee agreed, but the full board did not, which put the decision on hold.
Dryades YMCA plans to shift its lower grades at James M. Singleton Charter School to the Mahalia Jackson site, where it would maintain the current site partnerships. That’s in line with what Lewis has said he wants.
“It was just a natural fit.”
—Gregory Phillips, Dryades YMCA
Mahalia Jackson, which serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grades, is one of four remaining schools operated directly by the school district; the rest are charters.