New Orleans schools' post-Katrina adjustments make waves at NCEA

Published: 2006-04-19

ATLANTA (CNS) -- In Atlanta it did not take much effort to recall that the National Catholic Educational Association was supposed to have convened its annual gathering this year during Easter week in New Orleans. However, after Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters last August crumbled a levee, rendering entire sections of the city and surrounding area uninhabitable, the decision was made to move the NCEA convention to Atlanta. Despite the relocation, New Orleans was remembered April 18, the convention's opening day, with a tribute to the Archdiocese of New Orleans' Catholic schools, and the remarkable story of how one school became home for students from 11 other schools for three months. Of the 107 Catholic schools in New Orleans, 82 have reopened. Whether any of the 25 that did not reopen this year can reopen for the next school year is not fully known. A video played during the convention's opening session showed classrooms being housed in tents and trailers. The video suggested that the city returned to normalcy once students had a place to go to school.

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