Morris Jeff

Whenever Doug talks about his public education while growing up in New Orleans, he has more stories than most. He tells of his parents seeking out THE best school for him (and his siblings to follow). He sings the songs that started their days at Jean Gordon Elementary School. He relives memories made at weekend school-wide camping trips at Land O' Pines. He emphasizes that color never mattered when it came to friends, teachers or the like because his first school experience represented his city as a whole. While my school experience was equally perfect for me and my family, it is so drastically different than his that there is rarely an equal comparison as we swap stories. Not surprising since Lancaster County culture is just a tad different from the Big Easy.

Zach's first morning meeting

In the past 11 years as I have learned to love this grand city of New Orleans by being exposed to it closely through marriage to a die-hard New Orleanian, I have found appreciation and joy in Doug's stories of his childhood. Especially the ones that had to do with his education. (After all, I possess a teacher gene or two.) Those earliest experiences have been significant in the man that I share life with today. It's no coincidence. It's God's hand on Doug's life even before Doug or either of his parents knew Him. God's faithfulness has proven itself again  ... to our children. And, it's not surprising that my heart has grown to match Doug's as we have dreamed about what kind of elementary school our boys would attend in this city we love. We wanted our boys to attend a strong school academically that represented the population of New Orleans.

Both Doug and I are so pleased to be a part of Morris Jeff Community School, a charter school that embraces our values in education for children in New Orleans. This journey to find THE right school was not without headache (see this post, then this one), and in the end ... it fell into our laps as we were "done" with the numerous application hoops necessary to attend New Orleans' best performing schools. Honestly, we weren't all that excited about the first seven options anyway. Smile.

Morning mtg., 1st & 2nd graders, teachers, and parents

Every morning, the school day begins with a morning meeting when the principal talks about the school's values interactively with the students and teachers, followed by a song and the pledge to our country's flag. I love that our principal is good ... really good. She's approachable, kind, a strong leader and has put in some amazing hours to get this thing off the ground. I love the enthusiasm of the teachers. They get the school's mission and are excited to be a part of it. Almost every morning, I have found my eyes wet as I realize what a gift this environment is to MY children let alone to the children of New Orleans. I am simply amazed that we get to be a part of this institution that was built by a group of strong, dedicated, and courageous community leaders for several years.  We are only meeting some of these influential people now that school has started. The ironic part is several of those key leaders don't have children of their own, yet they have spent amazing amounts of energy and time to this mission. We are so exceedingly grateful.

And just to remember, when I asked the boys if they liked Morris Jeff better than Terry (their school in LR and only school experience) ... Zach quickly and heartily said, "YES!" Sam was more hesitant and said, "...when they have a real playground." Love those two.