The newly open Cristo Rey Baton Rouge Franciscan High School aims to continue its corporate work study program after it rebuilds from damage caused by the historic flooding in Louisiana.
Kendall Hebert, the school’s development director, says the school’s staff believes its facility at 4000 St. Gerard Ave. took in about four feet of water from the flooding.
Hebert says the school will check in with its corporate partners, who provide jobs to students so they can gain real world experience before leaving high school, to see if they’re in a position to host the students.
Students had already completed a three-week “summer bridge program”—during which they are familiarized with the school, and learn about things such as as time management, team building, workplace and corporate culture and ethics—as well as an academic assessment and a corporate shadow day before the school was flooded.
Some students that had yet to be matched with a corporate partner were working in the school’s office. Most of Cristo Rey’s students are from low to moderate-income families.
Cristo Rey sustained significant damage across the entire campus, Hebert says, adding: “There’s no way we can host our students anytime soon.”
The school’s administration team and board members met today to assess the situation and discuss how to move forward. Hebert says a temporary space is being looked at to meet the school’s short-term needs.
“We know that we’re going to come back stronger,” she says.
—Alexandria Burris
