News

Throughout the month of February, each of our schools celebrated Black History Month with books, performances, creative displays in the

On Friday, February 25th FirstLine Schools presented our annual Big Chief Awards. Since 2015 we have celebrated staff members who live out the FirstLine commitments and best reflect them in their daily service to their school communities. Each year we open nominations to our staff and this year we had over 100 nominations. The prior year’s Big Chief winners gather at a dinner to select the next group of Big Chiefs.

For the second year in a row, students at Arthur Ashe Charter School got to enjoy the fall weather in the garden while growing their love of reading. Students in grades K-2 grab their favorite autumn focused book, and head to the garden with their teacher to read aloud in this special space.

In the wake of Hurricane Ida, many of us saw our neighborhoods and communities come together to help one another recover and rebuild. At FirstLine, we’re lucky to have amazing community partners who wanted to support our families and staff as we all recovered from the storm. 

FirstLine is happy to announce the promotions of three school-based staff members, the return of two former staff members, and the welcoming of two new staff to leadership positions. As an organization with a strong commitment to professional development, we especially value our employees’ talents and dedication, and we know that retaining and promoting them contributes to our students’ success.

Getting to this place–where what used to be a concrete yard next to a school is now a living, breathing, food-producing ecosystem, powered and beloved and owned by students–has taken us… awhile. Wander with us along the winding garden path that is our 15-year history, and we will point out some sights along the way.

In a year with much uncertainty and a lot of change, the ESYNOLA team dug deep to extend the impact

Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley surprised Phillis Wheatley Community School faculty, staff, and students with a new statewide award that recognizes educational excellence. Louisiana Models of Excellence honors schools that serve as a state model in meeting one of the Louisiana Department of Education’s Believe to Achieve priorities.

The Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools (LAPCS) selected Arthur Ashe to launch their Little Free Library initiative.
LAPCS has joined the Louisiana Department of Education’s call to action to provide literacy resources to school communities and is doing so through this initiative. LAPCS is teaming up with ThriveKids of Children’s Hospital and unCommon Construction to build Little Free Libraries throughout New Orleans.

FirstLine Schools honored their first cohort of mentor teachers at the end of this school year. The nine FirstLine teachers were selected to participate in the program, which is designed to develop strong teachers into mentors who can support young and/or new teachers as they enter FirstLine Schools.