Lusher Charter School

Description

Lusher Charter School is a K-12 charter school in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, in the heart of the university area. Lusher is chartered by Advocates for Arts Based Education (AABE), which acts as the board for the entire school. Lusher School has three uptown campuses; the K-5 program is housed at the Willow Street campus, the middle and high schools are both located at the Fortier campus on Freret Street, and a temporary campus was housed at the Jewish Community Center on St. Charles Avenue.Danielle Dreilinger of The Times Picayune described the school as "exceptionally popular" and "one of the best public elementary schools in Louisiana".General informationHistoryLusher 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 a high school. In 2005, the school applied to the Orleans Parish School Board to become a charter school and open 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 Jan