![]() The discovery that the campus had been built on the site of a closed toxic dump complicated rebuilding plans, but a new school opened on this site in 2019.įor more about music education in New Orleans, click here. 37 The bill failed to pass in the Senate Education Committee. Washington High School on the same site for 55 million. The school closed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and all its original buildings except the auditorium-in a nod to its historical significance-were demolished. The Louisiana House Education Committee advances House Bill 180 to ban building schools on toxic waste sites in response to the Recovery School District’s unveiling of plans to rebuild Booker T. In the early 50s, revered band director Yvonne Busch taught many future stars here, including the members of Crawford’s Cha-Paka-Shawees. The R&B stars of the day-such as Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, and Charles Brown-also performed at the auditorium, while a who’s who of New Orleans’ top musicians attended the school itself, including Alvin Batiste, Harold Battiste, Eddie Bo, Alton “Big Al” Carson, Edgar “Dooky” Chase Jr., James “Sugar Boy” Crawford, Edward Frank, Barbara George, Ernie K-Doe, Earl King, Melvin Lastie, Percy “Master P” Miller, Edgar “Big Boy” Myles, Robert Parker, James Rivers, Allen Toussaint, Earl Turbinton, and Ernest “Doc” Watson, to name a few. Other giants of the Black entertainment world appeared later, including New Orleans natives Mahalia Jackson and Louis Armstrong, Marian Anderson, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and Dizzy Gillespie (Gillespie’s performance in 1949 proved to be influential on a young Ellis Marsalis, the eventual jazz patriarch). The auditorium’s first major performer was powerhouse opera singer Paul Robeson, whose appearance drew Black fans “en masse” in addition to “a fair sprinkling of whites,” according to Louisiana Weekly, which reported that the audience was “almost shaking the roof with thunderous applause” over the course of seven encores. These are the words that come to mind when visiting the campus, speaking with and observing the students in arts and academic classes, as well as communicating with the visionary, yet realistic administrators. “All of the black major events took place in that auditorium,” school librarian and 1962 alumna Emily Braneon recalled in 2001. 3 reviews of Booker T Washington High School 'Innovative. Click a day for hourly details.Turn page refresh Off Turn educational popups On. The facility also hosted recording sessions, New Orleans Symphony rehearsals, graduation ceremonies, recitals, film screenings, and other activities. Latest Cloud Camera Picture from Booker T. The adjoining auditorium, built in Art Deco style and capable of seating 2,000 people, quickly became a de facto civic center for the city’s African Americans, hosting concerts by legendary Black artists as well as meetings for unions, civil rights groups, and professional organizations. ![]() Washington campus was the first new high school built specifically for Black students in New Orleans. Students from families with incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty level are eligible for free meals.įor 2014, a family of two needs to make an annual income below $20,449 to be eligible for free meals or below $29,100 for reduced price meals.Ī family of four needs to make an annual income below $31,005 for free meals or $44,122 for reduced price meals.Financed with WPA funds and completed in 1942, the Booker T. Schools may not charge more than 40¢ for reduced-price lunches, nor more than 30¢ for reduced-price breakfasts. Families with incomes between 130%Īnd 185% of the federal poverty level are eligible for reduced price meals. Students at a participating school may purchase a meal through the National School Lunch Program. This may indicate that the area has a higher level of poverty than the state average. Washington High School students on free and reduced lunch assistance ( 99.6%) is significantly higher than the state average of 56.8%. Washington High School is ranked 125th out of 478 ranked schools in Georgia, for total students on lunch assistance.
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