Cohen College Prep High School is a New Orleans college prep charter high school serving 9th through 12th grade students in

Uptown Uptown may refer to: Neighborhoods or regions in several cities United States * Uptown, Chicago, Illinois * Uptown Manhattan, New York City, New York * Uptown, Richmond, Virginia * Uptown, Dallas, Texas * Uptown, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania * Upt ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. It is named after Walter L. Cohen, a free man of color who became the Registrar of the U.S. Land Office.

History

Walter L. Cohen High School opened in Fall 1949. Mr. Eli W. Sorrell was its first principal. The school was once under the authority of

New Orleans Public Schools The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), branded as NOLA Public Schools, governs the public school system that serves New Orleans, Louisiana. It includes the entirety of Orleans Parish, coterminous with the city of New Orleans. In the 2024-25 ...

, but in 2009–2010 it fell under the authority of 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 ...

. In 2011, Walter L. Cohen High School was still managed by the Recovery School District, but also became part of New Orleans College Prep, a charter school operator headquartered in New Orleans. The school was renamed Cohen College Prep High School.Morris, Robert.
Open-admission Uptown high schools miss state averages in most subjects
" ''Uptown Messenger''. July 6, 2012. Retrieved on August 3, 2012.

Cohen College Prep High School

Cohen College Prep High School opened in the same building as the former Walter L. Cohen High School in 2011. The lower grades were managed by New Orleans College Prep while the Recovery School District had the Future is Now Schools managing Cohen's upper level grades before all grades were transferred to New Orleans College Prep. The school expanded one grade per year under an agreement with the alumni association of Cohen. In October 2012, when Cohen was still being managed by the Recovery School District, it had grades 11 and 12 with 110 students, and New Orleans College Prep had grades 9 and 10. In October 2012, Patrick Dobard, the superintendent of the RSD, fired the principal of Cohen. For the 2019–20 school year, Cohen College Prep moved to the building that formerly housed the Edgar P. Harney School as its new building was being built on the current site of the school at 3520 Dryades St. The new school building is 110,000 square feet and cost $32 million to build.

Athletics

Cohen College Prep athletics competes in the LHSAA.

Notable alumni

Walter L. Cohen High School

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...

- producer and actor *

Big Freedia Freddie Ross Jr. (born January 28, 1978), better known by her stage name Big Freedia ( ), is an American rapper, singer and performer known for her work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helpi ...

- New Orleans musician known as the "queen of

bounce music Bounce music is a genre of New Orleans hip-hop music that is said to have originated as early as the late 1980s in the city's housing projects. Popular bounce artists have included DJ Jubilee, Partners-N-Crime, Magnolia Shorty and Big Fr ...

" * Bruce Eugene - former college and professional football player *

Jaren Jackson Jaren Walter Jackson Sr. (born October 27, 1967) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Incarnate Word Cardinals of the Southland Conference. A shooting guard born in New Orleans, Louis ...

- NBA Champion, Father of Jaren Jackson Jr. * Aaron James - former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player for the New Orleans Jazz *

Mystikal Michael Lawrence Tyler (born September 22, 1970), better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is noted for brash, obstreperous vocal delivery, characterized by a Southern rasp. He si ...

- rapper, actor *

DJ Jubilee Jerome Temple, professionally known as DJ Jubilee, also known as “The King of Bounce”, is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Considered a pioneer in the bounce music scene with several regional hit records such as "Stop Pause (D ...

- DJ, rapper *

Soulja Slim James Adarryl Tapp Jr. (September 9, 1977 – November 26, 2003), better known by his stage name Soulja Slim, was an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known for writing Juvenile (rapper), Juvenile's 2004 single "Slow Motion ...

- former rapper * Jimmy Warren - former college and professional football player * Duane Spencer - former college and professional basketball player

References

External links

Walter L. Cohen High
Recovery School District * - New Orleans College Prep * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Walter L. Charter schools in New Orleans Public high schools in New Orleans Educational institutions established in 2011 2011 establishments in Louisiana Uptown New Orleans