So far, students and faculty at Audubon Charter School have a lot to celebrate this semester. At the Jan. 21 meeting of F.A.M.E., the school’s board of directors, the latest news on their temporary Gentilly campus was all positive.

“We have transitioned to the Gentilly campus and it’s going really well. On the first day, we were ready and well prepared for our students,” principal Janice Dupuy told the board.

Teachers and staff from both the French and Montessori programs came together to set up and decorate classrooms, Dupuy said.

This allayed board concerns that it might be challenging to transfer school pride to the temporary site.

Another concern was the drop-off and pick-up procedure. But the carpool line appears to be working smoothly, board members learned.

Having visited the school for a firsthand look, board chairman the Rev. Cornelius Tilton reported that waiting time in the carpool line decreased each day. This is an accomplishment for school administrators who have fielded complaints about school traffic from neighbors of other Audubon campuses.

In other news, Dupuy said she attended an Orleans Parish School Board meeting on Jan. 19 and learned that $2,292,673.03 will be allocated to Audubon Charter School for its Carrollton campus, Dupuy says she is comfortable with the figure and has been assured that the money will be forthcoming, though exactly when it will be in hand is unclear.

A timeline has been set for the addition of 21,000 square feet to the Broadway campus. The anticipated date of completion is December 2013.

The final bit of good news is that the reopening of the French Pre-K3 class has been approved. Audubon participated in the New Orleans school choice program on Saturday Jan. 21 at the UNO Lakefront Arena.

There will be no meeting in February due to Mardi Gras. The board will meet again in March.