BATON ROUGE, La. – Today, more than 50 organizations, businesses, and foundations convened in Baton Rouge for an Education Ecosystem Summit in response to the community’s demand for excellence in their schools. These high-impact organizations have come together to sustain a system of high-performing schools in the capital city, starting where the need is greatest in North Baton Rouge.The Education Ecosystem Summit, sponsored by New Schools for Baton Rouge (NSBR), marks the beginning of the efforts by civic organizations to transform schools in response to the call for excellence. Summit participants included seven high-quality school organizations recruited and invited by NSBR to apply to its $30 million Excellence Fund, which provides startup resources to support school organizations with proven track records of academic success. Four schools supported by the Excellence Fund will launch in August 2014.The entities gathered today set out a plan to create a system of schools not led by any one entity, but unified by a common vision of excellent schools for every child in every neighborhood of Baton Rouge.“Today represents a powerful moment for our community, which has issued a clear call for improved schools,” said NSBR CEO Chris Meyer. “What’s significant about today is that this push for change does not start from the top down, rather, it has come from the bottom up. We are excited that the plan to improve schools in North Baton Rouge is no longer just a plan. Today captures action to move this change forward.”In a session with higher education leaders, including President F. King Alexander of LSU, Chancellor James Llorens of Southern, and Chancellor Andrea Miller of Baton Rouge Community College, participants discussed tangible actions to increase the number of students going to and through college. Other sessions at the summit considered a universal pre-Kindergarten initiative for all children in North Baton Rouge, plans to increase the recruitment and development of high quality teachers and principals, as well as solutions to rebuild and revitalize school buildings using a combination of public, private, and philanthropic resources.New Schools for Baton Rouge (NSBR) is a community partnership bringing together talent and resources to deliver excellent schools to students and families in Baton Rouge. Its mission is to ensure there is an excellent school for every child in the capital city. Over the next five years, NSBR will improve educational outcomes for 12,000 students in Baton Rouge’s highest- needs communities.

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