The Jefferson Parish (Louisiana) School Board is in the final stages of designing two, new $48 million schools that it hopes to open by the start of the 2026-27 school year.
Nola.com reports that architects shared renderings of the new St. Ville and Washington campuses at a recent school board committee meeting. Both schools are designed to educate 1,000 students in grades pre-K through eight.
The new campuses are part of a districtwide reorganization, approved by the board last year, which included the closure of six schools and the relocation of two others.
The new St. Ville campus is slated to be built on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Helen Cox High School in Harvey. The district decided that the previous St. Ville site is too small. St. Ville students have been sent to Woodmere Elementary while the new school is being built.
The new Washington campus will be built in Metairie, on the site of Bunche Elementary. Students will remain at Bunche while part of the campus is demolished beginning in October to make space for the new construction. Once the new school opens, the remaining buildings at Bunche will be razed.
Both new schools are built around "pods," a spoke-and-wheel design where four or so classrooms are connected by a common area with its own entrance. That common area will feature a science lab and desks and chairs that can be arranged for small-group instruction.
Lachin Architects designed the St. Ville campus, and the Grace Hebert Curtis architecture firm designed the Washington campus.
