Dear Cypress Community, Today, our Board of Directors voted for the Cypress Academy community to join the Lafayette Academy Extension at the Paul Dunbar building. The Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar, run by the well-respected Choice Foundation and located in a newly renovated building in the Hollygrove community, will open in August. We are enthusiastic about the potential benefits this partnership brings to our students and program at this point in the life of Cypress Academy. Nevertheless, we know that the news and the newness of this plan will bring a sense of uncertainty to many of you. We hope the following will help answer some of your initial questions until we have a chance to meet together. Why leave what we have created to join with the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar? Why now? These past three years at Cypress have shown the power of what can be done when a community comes together and intentionally works to educate all different kinds of student learners from every part of the city in one school. We have shown that it is possible to serve all types of students well - in community together. We have accomplished a great deal and become a model school in many ways in just a few short years of growth. The strength of our recent OneApp results demonstrate that families recognize the value of our program and want to send their children to Cypress. Unfortunately, we remain a relatively small school and our lack of scale in student numbers makes it very difficult to pay for the quality our students and families have come to expect and deserve. Why the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar? Choice Foundation’s Executive Director, Mickey Landry, is one of the most honorable voices in public education in New Orleans. Under his leadership, Choice Foundation has done admirable work at Lafayette Academy and Esperanza. Choice has been working on the design of the Lafayette Academy Extension for well over a year - we respect the plan they have developed around collaborative learning and the projects that their students will do around service learning and community engagement. These programmatic components, as well as many of their values, align with ours at Cypress. Choice Foundation has the capacity and capital - financial and human - to ensure that this new school delivers an excellent education. Further, they have the desire to incorporate and embrace the diversity of students that currently attend Cypress. Together, we know that the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar can meet the needs of all our learners - typical, gifted, talented, and those with exceptionalities. Will the Cypress staff be welcome to move to the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar? Dr. Berk and other members of the Cypress leadership are committed to helping with the transition to the Lafayette Academy Extension. Some may also permanently join the Lafayette Academy Extension community. While the specific roles have yet to be determined, we hope our students will have many familiar faces at the Lafayette Academy Extension. Over the next few days our staff will have the chance to meet individually with the school leaders at the Lafayette Academy Extension in order to get to know one another. Do students need to move to the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar? No. While we would love to see all of our students move with us to the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar, we also know that some families may prefer to make a different school choice. The second round of OneApp is open until May​ ​25​th​. We encourage families who wish to make a different choice to go to a Family Resource Center for more information about other schools. www.cypressacademy.org 504.383.3337 Will we have a chance to meet the new school leaders? Most certainly. We will host a meeting for our current parents at Cypress on Tuesday, May 22​nd​ at 7:00pm. Mr. Landry and the Lafayette Academy Extension school leaders will also be present. Our new families are invited to meet with the Choice Foundation leadership on Wednesday, May 23​rd​ at 7:00pm. Will the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar be set up to meet the needs of students with exceptionalities? Yes. Both Dr. Berk and Ms. Florez will ensure this transition goes smoothly for all of our students. We also hope that many of our fantastic special education teachers will make the move with us to Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar. We are committed to making sure that all student needs are met. Any additional thoughts? For us, this is a time of both reflection and optimism. This next leg of the journey for Cypress is an integrated one in the New Orleans charter school landscape. We see this as an opportunity for growth of resources and community, and we feel good about that. At the same time, we understand the impact this change may have on many of our families and we understand the range of emotions that many of you might be feeling. We believe the Cypress community will thrive in our new relationship with the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar. We will be available this week for a more detailed discussion. Until then, please know how much we have cherished these years of growing the Cypress community together and how grateful we will always be for the confidence you have shown in choosing Cypress Academy. Respectfully, Lance Query, Ph.D Board President Bob Berk, Ph.D Head of School -------------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NEXT STEPS --------------------------------------------------------------------We hope the majority of our students will join us at the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar, but we recognize that some families may prefer to explore other options. The teams at Cypress and EnrollNOLA are available to assist with next steps. Here is what you need to know: If you would like to continue at the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar: ● You do not need to take action. Your child will automatically be reassigned to continue at the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar. ● Do not submit a Round 2 OneApp if you would like to continue. If you would NOT like to continue at the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar: ● Submit a Round 2 OneApp at EnrollNOLA.org. ● The deadline to submit a Round 2 application is May 25, 2018. ● If you are not assigned to a school on your Round 2 OneApp, you will be reassigned to the Lafayette Academy Extension at Dunbar. If you need assistance completing your child’s Round 2 OneApp, please visit a Family Resource Center, open Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:00pm: UPTOWN @ Crocker Elementary 2300 General Taylor St., New Orleans, LA 70115 NEW ORLEANS EAST @ Livingston Collegiate Academy 7301 Dwyer Rd., New Orleans, LA 70126 WESTBANK @ OPSB Central Office www.cypressacademy.org 504.383.3337 CYPRESS ACADEMY 3520 General Dr., New Orleans, LA 70114 504.383.3337