At dawn, in the parking lot at Archbishop Rummel High School, religion teacher Lee Baker greets senior Mark Daniels Jr. with a bear hug.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 up?鈥� he asks, 鈥淗ow many feet of water did you get?鈥�
Mr. Daniels, who lived in the 9th Ward of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit, responds that his street and home were flooded with 8 or 9 feet of water.
Mr. Baker鈥檚 house, in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans, got 10 feet of water. Both teacher and student left behind their homes, which were flooded, and belongings, most of which were washed away.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to hang in there,鈥� Mr. Baker tells the student.
It鈥檚 Oct. 3, the first day back to school at the all-male Archbishop Rummel High School since Hurricane Katrina hit the greater New Orleans area on Aug. 29. The school is one of six high schools and 30 elementary schools that the sprawling Archdiocese of New Orleans is opening this week in Jefferson Parish. The parish is neighbor to both the Orleans and St. Bernard parishes.
While most schools in the New Orleans Archdiocese are unlikely to open until January at the earliest, the Rev. William Maestri, the superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese, says that he hopes some will open sooner.
In the last two weeks of September, the archdiocese put about 15,000 Catholic school students back in school by reopening schools in areas outside the city of New Orleans, according to Father Maestri. The opening of Catholic schools in Jefferson Parish this week will bring the number of Catholic school students returning to schools run by the archdiocese to about 30,000. That鈥檚 more than half of the nearly 50,000 students enrolled in some 100 archdiocesan schools prior to the hurricane. All archdiocesan schools closed at least temporarily after the storm.
Mr. Daniels and his family have settled for now in a rented home in Laplace, La. 鈥淚t feels good to be back with my friends,鈥� he says about returning to school. He鈥檚 the president of the school band and is carrying his trombone in a case. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to put our marching season back together,鈥� he says, 鈥淲e have a competition in a week.鈥�
Mr. Baker is temporarily living in Houma, La. He鈥檚 happy to still have a job. His wife expects that she鈥檚 lost her job as an elementary school teacher for New Orleans public schools. Baker got up at 4 a.m. to drive the 70 miles to Metairie to arrive shortly before the 6:50 a.m. school day started.
Like some other Catholic schools in the area, Archbishop Rummel will run a double shift to accommodate hundreds of still-displaced students. The schools call the schedule 鈥減latooning.鈥�
For the morning shift, the school has enrolled mostly pre-hurricane Archbishop Rummel students. On this first day of school after the hurricane, turnout is high: Only about 100 of the original 1,300 students in 8th-12th grades are missing. Some displaced students from flooded high schools have been added as well to the morning shift.
Afternoon Shift for Displaced Students
Starting Oct. 5, Archbishop Rummel will add an afternoon shift with about 1,300 more students, comprised completely of students displaced from other high schools. The afternoon shift will be coed.
Only two of Mr. Baker鈥檚 students in his first-period religion class haven鈥檛 returned to school. And of the 23 students present, only one, 16-year-old Arthur D鈥橦erete is new. Mr. D鈥橦erete previously attended Archbishop Hannan High School in Meraux, La., which was severely damaged by the hurricane.
Mr. Baker asks the students to clap in support of Mr. D鈥橦erete. 鈥淗is school is gone,鈥� Mr. Baker tells the students. 鈥淎s my grandmother used to say, 鈥楾here ain鈥檛 there no more,鈥� 鈥� And he adds, speaking to Mr. D鈥橦erete, 鈥淲elcome to Archbishop Rummel. This is a different kind of religion class, but I know that we鈥檒l connect.鈥�
Then he turns to the other students and says: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want him hanging out alone. I need three people who will check on Arthur this week.鈥�
Three students immediately raise their hands.
Most of the Archbishop Rummel students live in Metairie or nearby towns, such as Kenner. Most say their homes suffered minor damage from the hurricane. But they were forced to evacuate, staying in several towns or cities before returning home. Some students say their parents have lost their jobs.
Metairie isn鈥檛 exactly up and running like it was before the hurricane, according to parents who were dropping their children off at school. Grocery stores don鈥檛 have much on the shelves and some gas stations are closed.
But everyone is surprised and pleased that so many families have returned to the town鈥攁nd so many students have re-enrolled at Archbishop Rummel.
Father Maestri expects that the work of getting Catholic schools in the Orleans and St. Bernard parishes reopened will be much more difficult. 鈥淥ne of the issues looming larger and larger is housing,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can have schools open鈥攁nd have food and even jobs. But the question is: Where do families and students live? So many of the homes [in those parishes] have been decimated.鈥�
