Teacher Effectiveness: Action, Strategies and Outcomes Town Hall & Resource Fair

08.19.15 by


Teacher Effectiveness:
Action, Strategies and Outcomes
Town Hall & Resource Fair

Mark your calendar for September 12, 2015: OPEN and the Delta Research Educational Foundation are partnering to bring you an open Teacher Efficacy Town Hall. Click here to RSVP!

WHAT: A panel of diverse education leaders discussing the future of the profession; open community planning session where participants will collaborate to create a direct action strategy on how to strengthen New Orleans’ educator workforce from recruitment to retention; and a parent-teacher resource fair that will provide educators and parents with a school supply giveaway, coaching opportunities from master teachers, professional development opportunities, and direct support resources on topics like early childhood, classroom management, trauma-informed instruction, COMPASS, and teaching reading.

WHY: • To connect educators to fellow teachers, community supporters, resources and strategies
• Expand awareness of teacher efficacy
• Increase community support for teachers and the teaching profession
• Create a citizen-led action plan on local educator workforce development from recruitment to retention
• Build a path forward to making New Orleans a “teachers first” city

TOPICS: Teacher training | Classroom instruction strategies | Cultural competence | The role of diversity in teaching| The need for grow-your-own talent | And much more!

WHEN: Saturday, September 12, 2015, 9:00am – 2:00pm

WHERE: Xavier University Administration Building Auditorium | 1 Drexel Dr., New Orleans LA

Click here to RSVP today!

Refreshments, childcare and transportation provided

Announcing the Honorees of the OPEN Public Education Awards 2015

08.15.15 by

It’s that time of year again — the OPEN Public Education Awards are coming up! We’re humbled to announce this year’s premiere awardees:

Enduring Impact Award
Mr. Jay Altman & Dr. Anthony Recasner
Co-Founders, New Orleans Charter Middle School and FirstLine Schools

Distinguished Product of New Orleans Public Schools
Dr. Calvin Mackie
Founder, STEM NOLA

Click here to see the OPEA 2015 website and read the honorees’ biographies!

Building a School-Ready NOLA by 2020

08.14.15 by

Ready, Set, Go!, OPEN’s early childhood and school readiness initiative, is back in action. As part of our ongoing mission to provide the community with the tools to make sure our children are ready for their first day of school, OPEN is taking to classrooms and child care centers this fall. We’ll be working with educators and child care providers to support parents as first educators by gathering data on New Orleans’ five-year-olds in the five developmental domains: physical health and well-being, social knowledge and competence, emotional health and maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge.

EDI data is used to support community improvement grants and help local citizens direct resources where they are most needed. With funding for early childhood education tight across the country, communities need to know where to direct resources in order to meet children’s most critical needs.

SCHOOLS: Click here to access more information about participating in RSG

RESIDENTS: Click here to access your neighborhood profile data

Deirdre Johnson Burel on ERA Equity Panel

08.01.15 by

We’re proud to announce that our Executive Director Deirdre Johnson Burel participated in an Education Research Alliance for New Orleans equity panel entitled The Distribution and Isolation of Students across Schools by Race, Income, Special Education, ELL, and Achievement. Does choice lead to greater integration or segregation across schools based on race, income, special education, ELL, and/or achievement? How does the distribution of students across schools under the reformed school system compare to schools in New Orleans pre-Katrina? How important is integration as a goal for the New Orleans community?

Click here to see the full video!

#NOLAParentPerspectives Brings Parents Into Dialogue

07.31.15 by

On Thursday July 23, parent voice finally took center stage in the New Orleans education conversation. The NOLA Parent Perspectives Town Hall brought together real parents of New Orleans public school students to showcase broad and diverse perspectives on issues like OneApp, school closure, governance, accountability and more. Polls taken at the event demonstrated that:

• 53% of people in attendance if they could change one thing about the OneApp process they would mandate that all schools participate 
• 96% of people in attendance voted against school closures as a means for dealing with a failing schools 
• 64% of people in attendance voted that all schools should be returned under the jurisdiction of Orleans Parish School Board 

The event was co-produced by OPEN, Stand for Children Louisiana, Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans.

Click here to see a full video of the panel on WYES!

Click here to read a full recap at the Second Line Education Blog!

GNOF Happy Hour @ the Civic Community Hub

07.25.15 by

On Friday July 25th, we were proud to co-host the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Pop Up Happy Hour at the Civic Community Hub!

This monthly event brings a host of entrepreneurs, nonprofit professionals, civic leaders and more to celebrate a local nonprofit. The event also served to show off the Civic Community Hub (CCH), OPEN’s shared space with the Alliance Institute, Neighborhood Partnership Network and a slew of other small nonprofits. The CCH is a physical and figurative space for building and supporting the civic infrastructure that is essential to building a vibrant and sustainable New Orleans.


Click here to see a gallery of pictures from the event!

Rent Space in the Civic Community Hub!

The CCH is proud to provide meeting and working space for nonprofit, community groups and other entities at affordable rates:

DOWNSTAIRS CONFERENCE ROOM
Seats 12+ | Starts at $50/day

UPSTAIRS CONFERENCE ROOM
Seats 40+ | Starts at $125/day

INDIVIDUAL WORKSPACES
Desk, telephone and office amenities access | Starts at $50/day

Policy professionals: EPFP deadline August 14

06.12.15 by
EPFP logo

Policy professionals: don’t miss the networking, leadership and landscape opportunities of the Louisiana Education Policy Fellowship Program. Apply today to join the inaugural cohort of this national program’s Louisiana chapter, hosted by OPEN in affiliation with the Institute for Educational Leadership.

During EPFP, you’ll deepen your knowledge of the policy process, gain valuable contacts across sectors, and build the skillset to move your cause at strategic and direct levels. Your employer benefits from your training, and you develop the capacity to create and implement sound public policy to improve outcomes for children and youth.

Need more information about the program and its work? Email Zakenya Perry, OPEN Director of Programs or submit your application today.

Building Civic Infrastructure, One Parent and Child at a Time

06.01.15 by


We’re proud to announce the new initiatives, opportunities and programs provided by two generous grants from our funder-partners at the William K. Kellogg Foundation and the Institute for Mental Hygiene.

Impacting School Readiness in NOLA

The William K. Kellogg Foundation is helping us to ensure that by 2020, every child in New Orleans enters school ready to learn. We’re mobilizing the community for optimal child development using the vulnerability and asset data collected through the Early Development Instrument. If you’ve followed our work over the last few years, this will sound familiar — we’ve collected development data on over 65% of New Orleans’ kindergarten-age children, and we’re excited to bring that number even higher this fall!

Building a Cadre of Change Agents

OPEN announces the launch of a two-generational strategy to building stronger voices for children – Family Leadership Training Institute. This fall, in partnership with the Institute of Mental Hygiene and the W.K.Kellogg Foundation, OPEN will expand its current PLTI program to serve children between the ages of 3 – 12 with the Children’s Leadership Training Institute, and merge the programs under one umbrella: the Family Leadership Training Institute.

Building on a best-practice national model, FLTI takes a two-generational approach to building the leadership and voice that is needed to strengthen families, improve child outcomes, and strengthen advocacy to improve multi-sector family-serving agencies – education, health, and social services. At a time, when our city grapples with persistent child poverty rates, and gun-violence. FLTI is turning the tide at the anchor institution – the family!

PLTI parent visits with Michelle Obama!

06.01.15 by

OPEN__PLTI_15-137.jpg
Above: Kanitra receiving her PLTI NOLA diploma
 at the 2015 graduation ceremony.

We are thrilled to announce that PLTI NOLA 2015 graduate Kanitra Charles and Julia Bland of the Louisiana Children’s Museum met First Lady Michelle Obama at a ceremony honoring exceptional libraries and museums. The LCM received a 2015 National Medal for Museum and Library Sciences — one of only ten museums and libraries in the nation to do so.

The two ladies were in the White House’s East Room, where Ms. Obama told Kanitra to send a message back home to her four kids — “Listen to your mom.”

We’re so proud of the Children’s Museum for all that they do for the youth of New Orleans, and of Kanitra for being a partner in their mission. Please join us in giving them a round of applause!

Click here to read the full story and ceremony recap!

Click here to view a video of the ceremony!

GiveNOLA Day 2015: THANK YOU!

05.08.15 by


It’s official: OPEN had an amazing GiveNOLA Day, with over $22,000 raised through generous donor-partners like you. We are awed, humbled and touched by your support, and solemnly pledge to put your gifts to good use.

Everything we do, we do in partnership. Thank you for not just supporting OPEN, but BEING open with your contribution of time, talent and treasure. We’re looking forward to building more excellent and equitable solutions for children and families in 2015 and beyond.

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