A Montessori Triumph in New Orleans

Parents, Teacher Resurrect Audubon School

School district officials in New Orleans, struggling to respond to Katrina, had a message for the community at Audubon School: It's over.

The school would not open this year and when it reopened, its two programs, a Montessori program and a French school, would be replaced by a standard district curriculum.

The parents and teachers of Audubon were not amused.

"The thought of us losing Audubon as an institution was unbearable," said Carlos Zervigon, a former high school teacher with children in the schools. "The school community was not willing to accept the demise of the school. There was a determination that we will not accept this."

The school's physical plant survived the storm with only minor damage, but the community around it seemed to be in tatters.

At the time Zervigon and his family were in Bellingham, WA, staying in the home of friends.

Janice Dupuy, the acting principal, was living hours away in Picayune, her family split in three cities and her New Orleans house a total loss.

Teachers and families were scattered across the country, and at least one teacher had taken a job outside the U.S.

But none of that could destroy the place the program held in the hearts of its community. Audubon was one of a few elementary schools that annually scored among Louisiana's best on state exams. Its parents had been strong and passionate supporters, raising funds for many school activities.

As the dismal prognosis spread among families in exile, Zervigon described the sentiment. "We can save the school and rebuild a community. You have to have a school to come home to."

The New Orleans school district, which has drawn state and national scorn for sloppy management, was clearly not going to be part of the solution.

"One thing we learned in the storm," Zervigon said, "is that if you sit around waiting for someone else to get something done, nothing is going to get done. You have to do it yourself. No one else is going to do it."

Actually, the government did lend a hand.

The French government.

The Montessori program's partner at Audubon is a school under the auspices of the French consulate, following the French curriculum, taught in French by French nationals.

The French government made an offer that was spurned by the New Orleans school district. It turned to the Audubon PTO and offered $50,000 and later another $25,000 to support French and Montessori Education-FAME-the nonprofit that would be created to reopen the program.

"We had more help from Paris than Washington," Zervigon quipped.

The programs had a history of working well together, Dupuy said. They are similar in international outlook and worldview. There is a cosmopolitan view in the building and some programmatic sharing.

"When the PTO heard the French government was willing to give $50,000 and the district said no," Dupuy said, "they said 'we are going to have to go charter.'"

Even before the hurricane, parents had reluctantly considered converting to a charter school to mitigate what they saw as management decisions that cut into the integrity of the program.

Pre-Katrina, there had been tensions, though. Among them was the district's decision not to make Dupuy's appointment official, instead asking her to serve as acting principal for a second year.

Dupuy had 28 years experience in the district and had sent her son to another public Montessori school in the district. The district was not moved by the overwhelming support of parents in the school.

According to Zerbigon, some parents felt a concern that in the district's pressure for standardized curriculum geared to state testing, some teachers were concerned that they and the school were losing their identity. They did not like the direction at all.

"What sets Montessori Audubon apart," Dupuy said, "is such tremendous support from parents and community. We had talked pre-Katrina about a charter, but many of us felt we had a good working relationship with the school district. We were successful and had no need to be a charter school."

The school board had fallen into a state of complete operational dysfunction before the storm," Zervigon said, noting a budget deficit reported to be $60 million. Because of that, Audubon School was in financial crisis before the storm.

"We had a lot of mixed feeling about the charter thing," Zervigon said. "We had a dream of a system that works. We were still trying to make the system work."

With the school district option gone, the community knew what it had to do.

Parents, teachers and Jill Otis, a long-time principal of Audubon who retired a few years ago, created a nonprofit corporation to develop a charter school application and devoted countless hours to the task. Teachers were showing up at the building to prepare for a future that was without certainty. Dupuy commuted in regularly to help, frequently staying with Audubon families whose homes had escaped major damage.

Pushing hard, the school received a charter in November. On Nov. 16 the board confirmed Dupuy as principal. Neither she nor anyone else was on the payroll until December or got a paycheck until January, but they worked on. They left for work with insurance adjusters inspecting their homes. They supported each other.

During the struggle to open the school, Dupuy said, "People were at their best. Everyone was wanting to help. Everyone contributed. It wasn't about money or things. It was an outpouring of generosity and a spirit of good will. The parents were saying, 'Let's get the doors open.'"

They opened January 3.

"It was a big reunion. It was astounding and familiar," Zervigon said. The tensions with the district, which granted the charter but has far less control, were no longer a threat to integrity.

"A lot of us had mixed feeling about the charter school things, but this is a big opportunity for the Montessori school in terms of curriculum and independence. We can stay on the same page."

Audubon's community has been recreated. The school's enrollment is down from 500 to about 325-a total that Dupuy said would be higher if the teachers and funding were in place. Dupuy said most of the teachers are back and perhaps a half-dozen employees have not been able to return. A secretary and the school's financial officers lost homes. Others' homes suffered severe damage.

"On any given day you would not know what individual teachers are going through because the focus is on the children and providing the best education possible. I get compliments about how happy and hard-working the children are. This is normality for children.

"The best medicine was being open and being the good school we are. Children were ready to get back. They can't duplicate what you have here. They had gone to other schools, and people treated us wonderfully. But it was so good to be back home, back to do what we normally do."

"We've all been through this together. Those who've made it home have an obligation to get everyone else home. It's our obligation to save this city."

"We are often at or best when things are at their worst."

She's pushing hard, looking to get a state certification for Audubon and build collaboration with local universities.

"We knew the program was very special, very successful and worth preserving as something that was working," Zervigon said. "As we rebuild, we have to save the things that are working."

Donations to help Audubon manage its financial transition are being taken at:

Audubon Charter School Fund
Greater New Orleans Foundation
1055 St. Charles Av.
New Orleans, LA 70130