Success Prep was gearing up for the state’s high-stakes LEAP test not just by coaching  students but also by guiding parents on how to help their kids succeed, the school’s board of directors was advised at their monthly meeting, April 5. Parents were being coached in approaches ranging from advice on test-day breakfast to where to find online study guides.

Parents were urged to contact Success Prep for details.

“It has been a rough two weeks leading up,” acknowledged principal and teacher St. Claire Adriaan, who reported that one student required intensive counseling after witnessing a stabbing at home. She is now back in school. Adriaan also reported that a distraught neighbor had “wandered into” the school to complain of Success Prep students teasing her when walking by her house, and ended up “cursing out” Adriaan. “But this is why we are here,” Adriaan said. “This is obviously where we are needed.”

In the failing school’s quest to extend its charter, Success Prep will undergo a facilities inspection by the Recovery School District on May 3. In preparation, the board arranged a pre-inspection tour  to weed out problems, in particular a water leak between two portable classrooms.

In better news, Adriaan reported 100-percent staff retention in the upper school, and 100-percent parent participation at a recent report card conference.

The board then voted unanimously to dip into surplus cash to hire two instructors, most likely interventionists, at a cost of $50,000 each.

The board also voted unanimously to welcome  a new member to its ranks: Ryan Bates, a life-long New Orleanian is a graduate of Morehouse College and works at Chase Bank.