Desire Street Academy closing
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A Christian school that started as a home for inner-city New Orleans teenage boys and moved to Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina is closing its doors, but hopes to reopen down the road as a public charter school.
Desire Street Academy, 3852 East Brookstown Drive, announced Wednesday that it can no longer afford to stay open as a private school. Instead, it is directing its students to Capitol High Academy, 1000 N. 23rd St., a nearby charter high school led by Don Green, a former principal at Desire Street Academy. By fall 2010, Desire hopes to reopen as a charter school in its own right.
Desire Executive Director Danny Wuerffel said school officials have talked about making a private-to-public shift for years.
“The economic downturn, along with recent administrative changes at the school, have now accelerated the timeline for transitioning the campus to house a charter school in the future,” said Wuerffel, a Heisman Trophy winner and former quarterback for the University of Florida and the New Orleans Saints.
Relying largely on private donations, Desire Street Academy started in New Orleans as a Christian school with a special focus on athletics. It set up shop near the notorious Desire public housing project.
After retiring from professional football in 2004, Wuerffel and his family moved back to New Orleans so he could devote himself to the ministry.
Desire’s New Orleans’ campus suffered considerable damage from Katrina, prompting the school to move to Baton Rouge. It brought with it many of the students who attended school in New Orleans.
The school, however, has seen its enrollment decline from almost 200 students before Katrina to about 108 students, according to the state’s last official count.
Wuerffel said he’s committed to looking out for the well-being of Desire Street’s students during this transition. That includes working with the Louisiana High School Athletic Association to ensure the students can still play athletics, he said.
“We need to ensure they get the best opportunity for a quality education as they transition into other schools,” Wuerffel said. “And for many of our kids, athletics play an important role in their development, so we want to make sure they have that opportunity as well.”
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