About the Program
Teaching in New Orleans
teachNOLA’s mission is to place the most dedicated professionals in the New Orleans classrooms that need committed teachers the most. We work in close partnership and collaboration with both the Recovery School District (RSD) and New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO). Our teachers work in either Recovery School District schools or open-enrollment public charter schools across the city of New Orleans. For more information on New Orleans public schools, including individual school profiles, click here.
While teachNOLA teachers in the summer cohorts can either teach in the Recovery School District or in a public charter school, teachers in the Mid-Year cohort only teach in the Recovery School District.
Recovery School District (RSD)
With 33 directly-run schools and 34 charter schools, the RSD, led by Superintendent Paul Vallas, works with the largest number of New Orleans’ education providers. The RSD’s mission is to provide a “superior learning environment in which every student, regardless of ability, attains education success and graduates with proven skills that will provide them access to quality institutions of higher learning or to the workplace.”
All RSD schools are open-enrollment, enabling students from any neighborhood in New Orleans to attend. The RSD, which exists to transform underperforming schools into successful ones under the state accountability system, aims to lay the groundwork for a world-class education system in New Orleans. Student achievement, quality leadership, innovation and parent and community collaboration guide the RSD’s approach. Typically, RSD schools are divided into either K-8 or 9-12 buildings. For more about the RSD and its priorities and principles, click here.
New Schools for New Orleans
New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO) is a local non-profit created in spring of 2006 to champion the recovery and reformation of public education in New Orleans. Since its founding, NSNO has worked relentlessly to develop the talent and resources needed to transform the New Orleans educational landscape into a system of excellent public schools. To help achieve its goals, NSNO has partnered with teachNOLA to recruit a critical mass of highly qualified teachers to raise student achievement in New Orleans.
The mission of New Schools for New Orleans is to achieve excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans by:
- Attracting and preparing talent to teach and lead
- Launching and supporting open-enrollment public charter schools, and
- Advocating for accountable and sustainable high-quality public schools
Charter schools are independently-run public schools that operate according to the terms of a contract, or charter, between a non-profit organization and a school district or state. In exchange for greater freedom over items such as the academic program, management structure and length of the school day and year, charters are held accountable for concrete performance targets. The agency that granted a school’s charter can close schools that do not meet their stated targets, among other reasons. To read more about charter schools, click here.
1. RSD Mission Statement. http://www.nolapublicschools.net/documents/RSD_Strategic_plan_2008.pdf
