Istrouma to Re-open August 9

Principal Reginald Douglas expects to get the keys to the newly-renovated Istrouma High School from contractor Lincoln Builders on Monday, July 24, which will give his new faculty and staff a little over two weeks to move in and set up before the first day of class
on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

The opening of school this fall resurrects the historic school founded in 1917 from near destruction.

Istrouma had gone from the largest school in Louisiana with 1,900 students in grades 10 to 12 and an illustrious history in sports and academics to its being declared a failing school by the state and eventually being closed.

Many thought Istrouma would fade into history and be bulldozed, but a determined superintendent and thousands of alumni who wouldn’t accept defeat never gave up.

When Istrouma was shuttered in May 2014, it left North Baton Rouge without a public high school and without an anchor to hold the community together.

Supt. Warren Drake, who put together $24 million to renovate Istrouma without a tax increase, said North Baton Rouge, which is plagued by crime and blight, can never make a comeback without a great public school at its center.

“First a school, then a community,” he said, and a cooperative school board has supported him.

The superintendent appointed the Istrouma Advisory Committee to make recommendations on all aspects of re-opening the school.

The new principal, Reginald Douglas, was successful in turning around the St. Helena College and Career Academy. This year the school showed the greatest academic improvement of any school in the state.