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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – A Ninth Ward charter high school is the first school opened in the Recovery School District to receive an “A” letter grade from the state.

KIPP Renaissance High School celebrated the “A” rating with a pep rally today in the school’s gym on St. Claude Avenue.

“Our students achieved this A rating because they have set ambitious goals for the themselves and then did the hard work it takes to achieve those goals,” Principal Joey LaRoche said. “The 9th Ward is now home to the very best in public education, and this honor could not have been accomplished without the support of our families, staff and community partners.”

The Knowledge Is Power Program charter school opened in 2010 under the state-run Recovery School District. It’s the first school in the RSD to get an “A” letter grade from the state. School letter grades are based on standardized test scores, graduation rates, ACT and Advanced Placement exam scores and other factors.

LaRoche, a New Orleans native, was named Louisiana Principal of the Year for 2017.

KIPP Renaissance High School was one of several independently run charter schools to transfer from the Recovery School District to the governance of the Orleans Parish School board in 2016. The “A” letter grade was based on the school’s performance for the 2015-2016 school year, when it was still governed by the RSD.
Plans call for more than 50 Recovery School District-run schools to return to the Orleans Parish School Board by 2018 or 2019.