Nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to their hometown, Jonathan and Shelley Midura are packing up the family鈥檚 van and heading back from this Washington suburb to New Orleans. They just have to figure out where their three children will go to school.
Before the storm hit, this upper-middle-class family had enrolled the children in two different schools. Eleven-year-old Redding had started 6th grade at the private Isidore Newman School. Justis, 9, and Sophie, 5, attended the International School of Louisiana, a charter public school offering immersion programs in French and Spanish.
Though Katrina shut down both schools, the charter school reopened Oct. 31. The private school reopened last week.
Unfortunately for the Miduras, though, the charter school was forced to move outside New Orleans. It operates now out of a church and portable trailers in Kenner, La., a suburb west of New Orleans. By opening day, only 40 students鈥攁 tenth of its normal enrollment鈥攈ad re-enrolled.
The relocation poses a problem for Shelley Midura because she cannot make the 20-minute morning drive to Kenner and back in time to deliver Redding, her oldest, to Newman. Plus, uncertainties abound: Will the 5-year-old charter school have to change its language-immersion practices to attract more students? What form will the city鈥檚 revamped public school system take in the fall?
鈥淚鈥檓 just not willing to trust it鈥檚 going to be all OK and going well,鈥� Midura says. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 not just going to enroll my kid in some school I know nothing about.鈥�
So, on this gray December day, Midura is on her cellphone, figuring out the cost of enrolling all three children at Newman.
Children Adjust Well
The prospect of switching schools is painful for the 40-year-old stay-at-home mom because she was one of the parents who helped found the charter school. She still supports its mission.
鈥淵ou combine all this with the fact that Arlington has beautiful schools, so why go back?鈥� she adds.
But there are reasons to return, too. Though the family鈥檚 home withstood Katrina, much of the surrounding neighborhood didn鈥檛. The Miduras could not sell the house now without taking a loss.
What鈥檚 more, Shelley Midura is gearing up for a possible City Council run back home, and she needs to build name recognition.
鈥淚f there aren鈥檛 clear-cut reasons to leave, if your home wasn鈥檛 completely destroyed, it鈥檚 harder to make a decision,鈥� she says.
Indeed, Redding has thrived at Williamsburg Middle School here. He joined the biking club and the swim team. In November, he was named a student of the month.
鈥淯p here, I like how the kids are nicer,鈥� Redding tells a visitor. On the other hand, he notes, the Isidore Newman School has a swimming pool, 鈥渃ool鈥� activities, and a lighter homework load in every subject but mathematics.
The hardest part of the adjustment, Redding says, has been riding a school bus for the first time. He missed his stop on the ride home his first day of school.
鈥淚t was scary,鈥� he says.
Justis and Sophie also fit easily at Jamestown Elementary School.
A social worker from the Arlington County school system visited the family before classes started. The schools also assigned 鈥渂uddies鈥� to show Redding and Justis around. And, up until the family departed last month, a counselor at Justis鈥� school checked on him each Friday to monitor his progress.
Aside from two peers who called the boys 鈥淜atrina kids,鈥� classmates welcomed and befriended the displaced siblings. Among only a handful of Katrina evacuees on their campuses, the children were even minor celebrities for a while.
The family fled to Arlington because a college roommate of Shelley Midura offered them basement space close to reputable schools.
The move to northern Virginia also made sense because Jonathan Midura鈥檚 parents live in nearby Maryland, and he already had been commuting to the Washington area each week to manage computer databases for several federal agencies.
鈥淭he storm hit on a Monday. We were here by Thursday and on Friday we registered for school,鈥� Shelley Midura recalls.
Future 鈥榁ery Different鈥�
When it became apparent that they wouldn鈥檛 be returning to New Orleans right after the storm, the Miduras used their $700-plus monthly allotment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to rent a house that is slated for demolition.
A volunteer group and churches lent or gave the family just enough furniture to make the empty house seem livable. The school system provided gift cards to local stores.
鈥淭he floors are tilted, so cars roll when you put them down,鈥� says Redding of the house. The heating system doesn鈥檛 work on this day, either, but Shelley Midura isn鈥檛 complaining. She knows rents this close to Washington can be far higher.
Though the Miduras are looking forward to getting home, they aren鈥檛 sure what to expect. Their house is in good shape, but Shelley Midura鈥檚 childhood home is gone. Some friends and classmates who left the city are not yet back.
鈥淪chool鈥檚 going to be very different,鈥� Midura adds, musing, as evening darkens the bare walls. 鈥淛ust like most of New Orleans is going to be very different.鈥�
