Renée Kube, Kristen Walthall, and I arrived in New Orleans on a Tuesday afternoon in early December 2024 with the plan to visit our five affiliated sites over the next two days. In New Orleans, Children Incorporated partners directly with Communities in Schools (CIS) Gulf South to help implement our sponsorship program within the local schools, and their Chief Program Officer, Shayne, graciously offered to pick us up and be our tour guide for the few days we would be visiting.
For families living in poverty, this also meant that they could choose which schools to send their children to and were no longer beholden to the school districts in which they lived.
After getting a restful night’s sleep, we woke early on Wednesday morning, ready to meet Shayne outside our hotel to take us to our first school — Arthur Ashe Charter School. All of our affiliations in New Orleans are charter schools, and in fact, the city is the only one in the country with an entire charter school system in place. While taking the short drive to the school, I took the opportunity to ask Shayne more about the charter school system and how she understood it as being different than the public school system that many of us were more familiar with.
Understanding the Charter School System
Shayne explained that after Hurricane Katrina, with 90% of public schools destroyed and the city in shambles, it was decided by the State of Louisiana Board of Education that the city of New Orleans would work under the charter school system to address the issue of poor school performance and the lack of trust that many citizens had in how the public schools had been operating before the hurricane.
It was a fresh start for the city’s schools — a way in which to recreate the way the whole city felt about the education system — one in which the schools were autonomous in decision making, yet still publicly funded. For families living in poverty, this also meant that they could choose which schools to send their children to and were no longer restricted to the school districts in which they lived. According to Shayne, when enrolling their children, parents choose their top three schools, and there is an application process for their child to be selected. No matter where the child lives, regardless of how far away, the school provides transportation for that student, which is a huge barrier for parents who already have a difficult time making ends meet.
Getting to Meet with Jamila
When we arrived at the school, located in a quiet Gentilly neighborhood, we met with Maria, the Executive Assistant for Communities In Schools Gulf South, who was waiting outside for us. Maria works closely with Shayne in the CIS Gulf South office and serves as a close liaison between Children Incorporated and the individual volunteer coordinators at each of our affiliated schools in New Orleans. We greeted Maria warmly, and all made our way inside.
Jamila (center) is pictured with Arthur Ashe Charter School staff members Caroline (left) and Kylan (right) during our visit.
Once checked in at the front office and then met Jamila, our volunteer coordinator at the school, who is in charge of enrolling our sponsored children at Arthur Ashe and reporting back to Renee and Kris about how sponsorship funds are really helping kids at her schools. We made our way to Jamila’s office, which is also the resource center for the school and a place where children can also come to receive emotional and physiological support when they are having a tough time at school. Basic needs support is also provided as needed, which is where our amazing sponsors make such a difference.
How Our Sponsors Are Helping
Jamila explained to us that the school has two counselors and a social worker at all times since many of the children in attendance were from impoverished households and faced daily challenges going without their basic needs met. She is incredibly grateful for our sponsors and says that the biggest help to the kids is with winter clothes like long pants and jackets for the students, household items, and hygiene items. See also buys bed sheets and linens for the students as needed, which many of them would go without if it weren’t for Children Incorporated funds.
After talking with Jamila, we had a chance to meet a few of our sponsored children briefly, as we didn’t want to keep them from their classwork for too long, and then we took a tour of the school. We visited a few classrooms, as well as the library and school kitchen, where students had the chance to cook their own food and learn skills that they could use at home and in the classroom.
I was so impressed with how nice the school was — bright, clean and modern — and I couldn’t wait for our other visits coming up later in the day and the next. Now that I was starting to understand the charter school system and have the chance to visit a charter school for the first time, I was excited to hear from our other volunteer coordinators about how our sponsors were helping each of their unique schools in this truly unique city.
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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?
You can sponsor a child in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal, create an account, and search for a child in that is available for sponsorship.