Date: January 12, 2012 Media Contacts: New Schools for New Orleans: Jennifer Conway Director of Communications

& Public Affairs 504-723-0389 jennifer@nsno.org Recovery School District: Kizzy Payton Executive Director of Communications 504-373-6200

Kizzy.Payton@RSDLA.net

Latest investments provide innovative charter solution to the citys alternative school needs. Total awards to date will equip nine charter operators, seven local and two national, to serve more than 4,500 students citywide. NEW ORLEANS, La. Today New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO) and the Recovery School District (RSD) announced the third round of award recipients for the federally funded Investing in Innovation (i3) grant program. Friends of King (Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School) is one of seven local operators selected to date and has been awarded $997,130 . Future Is Now, a national charter management organization, has been awarded $800,000. Rite of Passage, a national provider of alternative education services, has been awarded $1 million. These awards are tied to the turnaround of three academically unacceptable schools in the 2012/13 school year including one elementary school, one high school, and the Rite of Passage award is specifically tied to the turn around of Schwartz Alternative High School. These most recent i3 awardees were selected from a total of 11 applications received, the majority from new operators. All 2012/13 awarded operators will be assigned to academically unacceptable schools by the Recovery School District (RSD) in a separate process. (More information available at rsd100days.wordpress.com) All i3 award recipients for the 2012/13 school year received charter authorization at the December 6, 2011 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) meeting, a requirement for funding. To maintain i3 funding, all recipients must meet aggressive grant milestones designed to monitor ongoing student achievement, growth and expansion readiness. All award winners must also commit to maintaining an open-enrollment policy at the schools the i3 awards will fund. We are very excited about the opportunity the Investing in Innovation (i3) program continues to afford students, families and communities across the city of New Orleans, said Neerav Kingsland, chief strategy officer, NSNO. The level of interest by high-performing charter operators in delivering innovative solutions to turn around the citys lowest performing schools, along with the caliber of award recipients, continues to be extremely high. The i3 selection process is intentionally rigorous, providing a mechanism to ensure that all i3 investments result in schools that dramatically improve academic achievement for all children. We have not yet achieved excellence at every level, however, these additional awards support the evident progress and momentum necessary to achieve that goal. Patrick Dobard, RSD interim superintendent, notes that this round of awards, along with other strategies employed, will result in significant progress toward effectively solving one component of the citys alternative education needs. As we continue to deliver on the commitments identified in our 100-Day Plan, What Will it Take, identifying
The contents of this release were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Investing in Innovation (i3) Program. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.

THIRD ROUND OF i3 AWARDS ANNOUNCED

solutions to effectively provide opportunity for these severely undeserved students and their families is paramount. All awarded operators are to be commended. They have met the bar that will be set for all schools, and must continue to drive up student achievement, provide schools that meet the needs of all students, and engage the community in a meaningful way. The Third Round Recipients and Their i3 Awards The Friends of King (Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School) has been awarded $997,130 to open a K-8 charter school in the 2012/13 school year serving at least 500 students and tied to the closure of an academically unacceptable elementary school. We have been effectively serving students for years with a steadfast commitment to both excellence in education and community, said Dr. Doris Roch-Hicks, CEO and principal of Dr. King Charter School. This award provides us with an opportunity to take what we know works and expand it to deliver a rigorous academic program coupled with a respect for each students individual growth. Future Is Now Schools has been awarded $800,000 to open a charter high school serving at least 600 students tied to the turnaround of an academically unacceptable high school in the 2012/13 school year. New Orleans is the right city for our organization to deliver the kind of opportunity we know is critical to solving the complex challenges that come with delivering high-quality high school education, said Steve Barr, CEO of Future Is Now Schools. Many of our team have been involved in the successful launch of high-performing charter high schools since 2000 and we are extremely excited to bring that level of expertise, talent and innovation to New Orleans students and their families. Rite of Passage (Crescent City Leadership Academy) has been awarded $1 million to open an alternative charter high school tied to the turnaround of Schwartz Alternative School. We commend the city for working to put a comprehensive alternative strategy in place including a solution specific to the at-risk youth in the community, said Jim Bednark, chief research and development officer for Rite of Passage. With an emphasis on providing a programmatically rich environment and evidence-based practices that are customized to the needs of the community served, we look forward to providing a highly effective opportunity for New Orleans as we have on our eight other campuses nationwide. Previous Round i3 Awards With this announcement, NSNO and the RSD have made 10 i3 grant awards since the launch of the program. The inaugural i3 award winners already working to turn around schools in the 2011-12 school year are Crescent City Schools (Harriet Tubman Charter School), FirstLine Schools, (Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School) and KIPP New Orleans Schools (KIPP Believe Primary). Together with the third round recipients, three previously awarded operators will operate seven schools in the 2012/13 school year, including Collegiate Academies (two high schools), New Orleans College Preparatory Academies (one high school), and Choice Foundation (one K-8 school). While all awards provide the opportunity to significantly impact the identified needs citywide, i3 applications are submitted and recipients are selected based on the level of quality they can demonstrate without being tied to a specific turnaround site. This announcement follows an intense selection process. Applicants submitted highly detailed written applications in early October and underwent both existing school site visits and intense leadership team interviews in early November. Areas assessed included school design, curriculum, instruction, leadership experience/competencies, organizational structure, staffing, professional development, community engagement, student enrollment/retention, governance, operations and finance. The New Orleans i3 Project plans to grant up to 19 awards over five years. The intent and purpose of the i3 program is to virtually eliminate academically unacceptable schools in the city by 2016. The next i3 award application period (2013/14 Spring Round) will begin in February or March of 2012.

The contents of this release were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Investing in Innovation (i3) Program. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.

Investing in Innovation (i3) Award In October 2010, New Schools for New Orleans and the Recovery School District were awarded a $28 million validation grant by the U.S. Department of Education through the Investing in Innovation competition, and secured the required $5.6 million in matching funds. As a result, all i3 awards made to high-performing charter operators are made up of both federal dollars and private matching funds. 83.33% of each award made to turn around an academically unacceptable school is federally funded and the remaining 16.67% is made up of private matching funds. In this round, awards will be allocated as follows: Rite of Passage Federal Funds $833,300 and Private Matching Funds $166,700; Friends of King Federal Funds $830,908 and Private Matching Funds $166,222; Future is Now Schools Federal Funds $666,640 and Private Matching Funds $133,360. The grant funds a five-year project called Scaling the New Orleans Charter Restart Model. The goal of this five-year project is to expand New Orleans innovative charter model citywide, then apply the model to other struggling urban school districts. The heart of the New Orleans i3 Project involves creating a permanent infrastructure citywide to turn around the bottom five percent of academically unacceptable schools in New Orleans using high-performing charter management organizations. The project has begun in the 2011/12 school year and will replicate the New Orleans model in Memphis and Nashville, TN in the 2012/13 school year. New Schools for New Orleans New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and developing the people, resources and environment necessary to deliver on the promise of excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans. Founded in April 2006, NSNO is committed to making strategic investments of time, expertise and funding to support the growth of New Orleans high-performing system of charter schools. NSNOs work to support continued student achievement gains citywide is focused on three objectives: serving the city as a strategic leader to maintain focus on academic excellence in a reform-friendly environment; supporting the expansion of highperforming charter schools to serve additional students in collaboration with the community; and, partnering with sustainable support organizations to ensure that the academic needs of schools are met as they continue to advance student learning. Recovery School District The Recovery School District is a special school district administered by the Louisiana Department of Education. Created by legislation passed in 2003, the RSDs mission is to provide the supports and interventions necessary to put academically struggling schools on a path toward success. Currently, the RSD includes 16 traditional public schools and 50 public charter schools in New Orleans.

The contents of this release were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Investing in Innovation (i3) Program. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.