Sojourner Truth Academy is a name used by two separate, unrelated charter schools in the United States: Sojourner Truth Academy in Minneapolis, MN (1999–present) and Sojourner Truth Academy in New Orleans, LA (2008-2012). The Louisiana-based school was a charter school located in Uptown
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
, along Napoleon Avenue. This Wikipedia entry pertains to the New Orleans school only. The
Recovery School District
Recovery School District (RSD) is a special statewide school district administered by the Louisiana Department of Education. Created by legislation passed in 2003, the RSD is designed to take underperforming schools and transform and make them eff ...
Times Picayune
''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...
''. Tuesday November 29, 2011. Retrieved on August 3, 2012. The school was named after
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...
.
History
The school was co-founded by two women: Channa Mae Cook, who was 27 when the school began operations, and Kristin Leigh Moody. Both women had decided to start the school after visiting New Orleans in April 2007. In June of that year they moved to New Orleans to begin work on the school. In October they traveled to Baton Rouge to have the Charter School Application for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved. The document containing the charter proposal was 200 pages long. After the approval, the women worked to found the school. It opened on Monday August 18, 2008,History " Sojourner Truth Academy. December 8, 2008. Retrieved on August 4, 2012. with the mission of preparing students for university and for promoting social justice. The school started out with a $1.3 million budget. It had 120 students, 8 teachers, one dean of students, one social worker, and a few miscellaneous employees.Charter Schools Bloom In New Orleans " ''
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
''. August 14, 2008. Retrieved on August 3, 2012. The school began with only the 9th grade, and added one grade level each year.
In the summer of 2011, the school board hired Reginald Flenory to replace Cook as the school's principal. Marika Barto, the former assistant principal, said in 2012 that " ings went downhill very fast. (Students) now have no custodians, no toilet paper in the bathrooms, no soap. Students are kind of running around the building."Satchfield, Scott. Fight outside uptown school is latest in series of problems " '' WWLTV''. Tuesday May 15, 2012. Retrieved on August 4, 2012. Andrew Vanacore of the ''
Times Picayune
''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...
'' said that several teachers, anonymous for fear that they would be fired if their identities were public, said that "the transition has not gone well, and that the social mission the school has been sidelined."
In 2011, as the state reviewed which schools would have their charters renewed, the RSD told the school that it would not recommend renewal for Sojourner Truth Academy. The school announced that it would voluntarily forfeit its charter and close in May 2012. In its history, the school had one senior class. George Saucier, an area resident said, as paraphrased by Scott Satchfield of '' WWLTV'' in 2012 that the school had "a serious lack of control over its students" and that he was not surprised that a fight had occurred outside of the school in May 2012.
Campus
In its original location, the school shared a building with the Federal Head Start and the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, with the latter sharing the same hallway space as the school. To direct their students to the proper locations, staff members stood in the hallway when classes changed. As of 2011 it was housed in leased space in a building owned by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans ( la, Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, french: Archidiocèse de la Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans) is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Jefferso ...
.
Student body
In 2008 the school had 120 students.
Operations
The school hours were from 7:30 to 5:00 every weekday. Students were required to perform community service, and eat in a group breakfast on a daily basis.
Academic performance
In 2010 the school performance score was 53.5 of 200, with 65 being the highest "failing" score. In 2011 the score was 48.7. The score indicates that, in the state examinations, fewer than 30% of Sojourner Truth Academy students scored at grade level or above. As of the latest test by 2012, 60% of the students failed the state geometry examination, and for each of the other subjects, about 30% failed. In every one of the subjects in the state examinations, no more than 25% of the students scored "Good" or "Excellent."Morris, Robert. Open-admission Uptown high schools miss state averages in most subjects " ''
Uptown Messenger
Uptown may refer to:
Neighborhoods or regions in several cities
United States
* Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico
* Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
* Uptown, area surrounding the University of C ...
Times Picayune
''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...