This is the final part of a two part post by Bing Howell. In the first part, Bing discussed the alignment of the community that brought him to Baton Rouge. The domino effect of community leadership and alignment, a myriad of different school operators have joined New Schools for Baton Rouge in our mission of ensuring that every student in North Baton Rouge who is in a D or F school will have access to a world class education. The two common denominators across every organization that has joined us is that:

1. They all have an unequivocal track record of consistently growing students academically; and
2. They are all committed to North Baton Rouge’s ‘Our Schools…Our Excellence’ community compact.

Aside from these, if you were to walk into UP Elementary or any one of Celerity’s three Baton Rouge campuses, you will see students being engaged in very different ways.In the next two years, Baton Rouge College Prep, Democracy Prep, Baton Rouge Bridge Academy, Collegiate Academies, HOPE Christian Schools, Cristo Rey, APEX Collegiate Academy, and Laurel Oaks will be opening, and we are still recruiting other partner organizations to join us.This difference will not only provide parents with only high quality choices, but it will also attract and empower great educators to work at schools that best fit their instructional preferences.Since deciding to move here, I have had countless friends and family members ask me why. What I saw on December 18 couldn’t summarize it any better. In one event I saw the embodiment of the movement that is happening in North Baton Rouge: parents, businesses and community leaders demanded better for their youth, the community has aligned themselves to make this happen by any means necessary, and great schools are leading the charge!Being a part of something this powerful is a once in a lifetime opportunity to really make a difference in a community that is primed to prove what’s possible – that every one of its children can achieve at high levels. This is why I moved here.If even a small part of this spoke to you, I encourage you to reach out and learn more. We are at the beginning of something big, and we would love for you to join us.