Barbara T. Harris has been the principal at Desire Street Academy since it began in August 2002. She holds a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of New Orleans and a master’s degree in business from the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.
The Desire Street housing project of New Orleans, with over 14,000 residents, is the second largest public housing community in the nation. It has had the distinction of being ranked as the worst in the nation. The children of Desire Street face a multitude of obstacles as they grow up in a neighborhood where they are surrounded by poverty, crime, violence, drugs, and broken families. The Orleans Parish School District is very similar to the six urban school districts cited in the previous article. The elementary school that serves the children of Desire Street is among the poorest in the city. Of the 490 students in the school, 477 are eligible to receive free and reduced-price lunches. Their life chances are greatly compounded by the fact that the education many of them are receiving has them on a collision course with failure.
Desire Street Academy was started in 2002 as a middle school for boys living in the Desire Street community. Desire Street Academy was established as a center of hope for these young boys, to equip them with what they need to grow to be leaders of their communities. Desire Street Academy is committed to changing the culture of the community by raising the standard of excellence in academics, athletics, and the arts in a Christian context.
The school currently enrolls 130 African American boys in seventh through ninth grades. All of the boys qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. Ninetythree percent of the boys live in a single-parent home. Yet Barbara Harris and the staff of Desire Street Academy are committed to making a difference in the lives of these young men who were well on their way to becoming black male statistics.
The Meantime Volume 3 Number 1