NEW ORLEANS — Encore Learning Academy (stylized as ENCORE), an art-based school, closed its doors in 2022 and the property now has been purchased by International School of Louisiana. According to its website, the International School is described as being “founded in 2000 by a group of parents eager to improve public education in Louisiana. They envisioned a tuition-free, non-selective charter school that would cultivate diversity, inclusion, and equity. ISL is the only school chartered before Katrina fortunate enough to see continued success, growth, and a thriving student population.” They provide French and Spanish language immersion courses.
The property located at 2518 Arts Street in St. Roch was listed for $9.9M but sold for $5,750,000. Built in 1950, records state that the property can accommodate 700 students and that it was renovated in 2022.
In 2020, David Schalliol, associate professor of sociology at St. Olaf College, wrote about the relationship between the ideals of architecture and the ideals of education, focusing on the modernist public schools in New Orleans. Schalliol laments schools built by general contractors who are “involved in everything” from education and hospital buildings to oil platforms and parking garages. To Schalliol, the physical design of new schools suggests how children’s education is valued and is indicative of the scholastic changes afoot in New Orleans.
