The board of directors of the International High School of New Orleans met Sept. 21 at 6:00 p.m.

Board members Andrew Ward (chairman), Karen Mayer Dwyer (vice chair/treasurer), Errol George, LavalHughes, Lilijana Mamoorian Johnson and Maria Garcia were present. Ed Graf, Maria George and Robert Couhig were absent. Two members of the public were in attendance, including a reporter for The Lens.

After approving minutes from two previous meetings, board Chairman Andrew Ward reported on the school’s success in drawing students from nine parishes. “The state of the union is strong,” Ward said.

Head of School Anthony Amato then reported that the school, seeking to expand outside New Orleans, has a “letter of intent” approved by Jefferson Parish. The next step is to explain to Jefferson officials what the proposed school will look like.  The board registered support for the expansion.

Amato also highlighted computer-assisted learning and teaching programs, including Scantron;  Edusoft, which allows teachers to create online auto-corrected exams; PSAT prep program; Lexia and Reading Plus software, as well as Math XL program.

Clubs and extra-curricular activities have been augmented and now include a dance team, majorettes, orchestra, and a marching band as well as sports.

The Parents Organization is at work on the Nov. 12 fair and hopes to attract the larger community, not just school families.

The library floor is being tiled to turn it into a “real library and media center,” Amato said. He said he hopes to get more computers for the library.

The International High School is “the only high school besides Lusher with access to the Tulane Research Center,” Amato noted. Bus service to Tulane is being arranged so that students can take full advantage of that opportunity.

The basement and terrace, which were flooded by Tropical Storm Lee, have been drained. The school is also beginning the process of bar coding all computers, air conditioning units, furniture, and books. An effort is being made to determine which computers are on loan and which are owned by the school.

The next meeting is Oct. 19 at 6 p.m.