Hi Folks! This is Terry McIntosh (JFK '76). I grew up in Lakeview and Lakeshore, and am currently the president of the JFK ALumni Association (such that it is post-Katrina).

We have had numerous requests from alumni asking why we don't try to start a charter school at JFK. Now, before you all go crazy and say absolutely not . . . consider the following:

Pre-Katrina, JFK (which was once the premiere high school in the city) had become the worst and gained a very bad reputation. This is because most district parents (both black and white) had removed their kids and sent them to private schools. In order to keep enrollment up, the administration at JFK started accepting anyone who had been expelled from other schools.

We now have an opportunity to restore JFK to its former glory and provide a quality education to district children once again. When I attended a school district meeting last year, I was told that JFK was to be "land-banked" for the time being. I asked why and they told me that they had done a survey and found that there were not enough kids in the district to support the school. I asked if they had bothered to survey ALL of the families in the district neighborhoods, or just the ones who had been active in public school pre-Katrina, and they said just the ones active in public schools.

It seems to me that many families in JFK's district would love to have a "FREE" public education if there were a quality school for their children to attend. They could much better use their money to rebuild their homes and their lives.

We have many talented alumni in our association who are willing to work hard to fight for a charter school at JFK. We have discussed many options from a general curriculum to a critical languages curriculum (which does not exist in New Orleans at this time).

The bottom line is that if the alumni association and the district neighborhoods band together to make this happen, we can make it the type of school that WE want to see at JFK. It may take several years since JFK is not on the "front burner" right now . . and there are rumors of them possibly trading the property and/or tearing down the school. It does not matter where it is (as long as it is in the district) as long as we get it done . . . if that is what the community wants. But in order for there to be a chance for it to be open in time for the kids that are currently at Hynes, we need to make some decisions NOW.

Please discuss the possibilities, and if there is sufficient interest, you may contact me at

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, and we will be happy to attend one or more of your meetings to discuss the possibilities.

Thanks for your time!

Terry McIntosh (JFK '76)