NO.firstday2.091820.0006.JPG (copy)

McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School in New Orleans, La. Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Citing dropping enrollment, the InspireNOLA network will consolidate two of its elementary schools in New Orleans next school year, the latest move within the city's all-charter district to get smaller as schools prepare for a future with fewer students.

Pierre A. Capdau Charter School and McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School (called 42 Charter) will form a single school, Pierre A. Capdau Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics School, or Pierre A. Capdau S.T.E.A.M. for short.

The school will operate under a charter agreement that will last five years, until 2027, in Pierre A. Capdau’s current building at 5800 St. Roch Ave., officials said.

The Orleans Parish School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the consolidation. School Board President Olin Parker commended InspireNOLA and its board for voluntarily making the move.

“By unifying these two schools — 42 and Capdau — it will allow those students additional resources, additional programming," Parker said. "It is a difficult move but it is the right thing to do."

Declining numbers

The consolidation comes as NOLA Public Schools leaders have started discussing how the district should deal with a declining number of students, which is expected to leave empty seats in many schools.

The number of students in Orleans Parish public schools fell 6% from 2019 to 2021, and the drop is affecting lower grades in particular. Fewer kindergarteners enter the system each year, and according to education nonprofit New Schools for New Orleans, 3,000 fewer students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grades last year than five years prior. The number is expected to continue falling.

In October, another charter organization, New Orleans College Prep, said it will hand over the charter to the historic Walter L. Cohen High School back to the school district. And IDEA Oscar Dunn and FirstLine Live Oak volunteered to close at the end of the 2021-2022 school year because of low enrollment. 

The InspireNOLA network operates three other elementary schools, Alice M. Harte Charter School and Dwight D. Eisenhower Charter School in Algiers, and Andrew H. Wilson Charter School in Broadmoor, as well as three high schools: Edna Karr High School in Algiers; Eleanor McMain High School in Uptown; and McDonogh 35 Senior High School in Gentilly.

Between 300-400 students attend 42 Charter School, which is described on the InspireNOLA website as having “smaller class sizes with data-driven learning.” The InspireNOLA network acquired Pierre Capdau, which has between 300-400 students, in the 2020-2021 school year.

Marching band, athletics

Kevin Barnes, Jr. chief of staff for the InspireNOLA network, said that both schools were under-enrolled.

Under the merger, the new school will be able to provide activities and programs that will particularly benefit students at 42, who did not have marching band or athletics because there wasn't a gym on campus and very little green space. The merged school will lean into "STEAM" identity, offering a "maker's space," robotics and more for students, Barnes said. 

He noted that all teachers would be retained in network. 

"It's really a win for this city," Barnes said. 

It's unclear what will happen to the 42 campus, located in the 7th Ward at 1651 N. Tonti St.

InspireNOLA did not immediately respond to inquiries. 

Students from both schools will automatically be enrolled in Pierre A. Capdau S.T.E.A.M.