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Our groundbreaking project, in partnership with Orleans Parish School Board,is the Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood & Family Learning Center at 2405 Jackson Avenue in Central City, New Orleans, Louisiana.The Center will open to students (ages 0-5) and their families and all residents of Central City in spring 2010. Please check our Calendar for school admissions and member registration information.

We are nearly finished transforming the tragically shuttered Mahalia Jackson Elementary School into Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood & Family Learning Center, an early childhood education center complemented by an unprecendented collection of vital on-site services, including a public library, health clinic, adult-learning center, job training center, computer lab, a fitness center, and the first installation of a "Neighborhood Place," an initiative of Governor Bobby Jindal's administration, which encompasses many of the community and social programs at Mahalia Jackson Center.    

The Orleans Parish School Board has generously sponsored the reconstruction and use of the building, which sat for years with classrooms partially intact - clocks and artwork on the interior walls - but without most exterior walls - since the 2005 storms. Along with providing high quality early education to about 200 children on campus, we'll reach about 1500 additional children each year through our outreach work with Central City childcares, and we're part of a coordinated school health effort that will expand from four schools in Central City currently to a city-wide program. 

New Orleans-based John C. Williams Architects has designed this 50,000 square-foot, $17million project. One of the goals of the renovation is to maintain and enhance the sustainable features of the original design. Williams Architects organized and moderated a series of charrettes, or community meetings, to design a program that meets the needs of Central City residents.

 
 This beautiful mural on our campus was designed by Alex Beard and painted by Rita Benson LeBlanc, Saints players, Central City children and Mahalia Jackson Center staff and volunteers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a list of services available at Mahalia Jackson Center:

Mahalia Jackson Center is a prototype for planned facilities and programs in approximately six more similarly challenged communities in New Orleans.

While we get www.mahaliajacksoncenter.org up and running, check the  Calendar of Events on www.childrenarewaiting.org (at the left of the main screen) for info on school admissions, member registration, and our Grand Opening Celebrations and other upcoming events, dates and deadlines.