[StBernard] New Lacoste Elementary School in Chalmette scheduled to open in August

[Westley Annis]

New Lacoste Elementary School in Chalmette scheduled to open in August

Published: Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 4:32 PM

 By Kate Mabry, The Times-Picayune 

In a long-term plan to redevelop the St. Bernard Parish School System, the
new Lacoste Elementary School in Chalmette will open in August in time for
students to return to class following the summer break. Construction
continues at Lacoste, which was formerly the St. Mark Catholic church and
school, St. Bernard Parish School Board Superintendent Doris Voitier said,
and the $25 million school will welcome more than 700 students in the fall
semester.

After months of negotiations between the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the
St. Bernard Parish Public School System, the school system purchased the
property on East Judge Perez Drive last year.

The new Lacoste Elementary School which will alleviate crowding in the
Arabi, Chalmette and Joseph Davies elementary schools. Voitier said the
school system had been planning for the repopulation of the parish since
Katrina, and the addition of another school was required to meet the
parish's needs.

"As children continue to move into St. Bernard Parish, we knew another
school would be necessary," she said. Following the opening of the Lacoste
Elementary School in August, Voitier said the school system will "have
sufficient space for the parish."

St. Mark Catholic church and school closed following Hurricane Katrina in
2005 after the property was "devastated" by the storm, said Sarah McDonald,
director of the Archdiocese of New Orleans' Office of Communication. The
original Lacoste Elementary School building also was destroyed in the storm,
and the St. Bernard Parish School System built the 9th grade academy in its
place, Voitier said.

In the years following the storm, Diana Dysart, school board president and
alumna of Lacoste Elementary, said many members of the school system
realized another elementary school was needed.

Dysart said the school system approached the Archdiocese of New Orleans to
discuss purchasing the St. Mark Catholic church and school's property, which
is located a few blocks away from the original Lacoste site.

"We were pleased that we were able to purchase the land," Dysart said.
"We're very excited about its opening in August."

In order to commemorate the original school, Dysart said the new school will
retain the same name.

"We want to keep the names of schools to maintain those names in history,"
she said. Voitier agreed stating, "We want to serve the same community the
old Lacoste school has serviced."

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