School Choice, A Family Choice: The Howard Family

In the final installment of “School Choice, A Family Choice” during LFC’s celebration of National School Choice Week, we share the story of a Louisiana family that is taking advantage of the state’s educational choice options, including public charter schools, traditional public schools, scholarship schools, online schools, and homeschooling.

When Marielle Howard and her family moved from Baton Rouge to Prairieville, they were faced with uprooting their son Hunter, then in the sixth grade from Parkview Baptist School. After commuting to and from Baton Rouge, Hunter decided to give public school a try, enrolling at Dutchtown Middle School as an eighth grader.

“By mid-eighth grade year he was in love with Dutchtown Middle and very excited about moving forward to Dutchtown High School and that’s why we are there today,” said Marielle.

When asked what sets the Dutchtown schools apart from others, Marielle pointed to the community.

“The great thing Dutchtown schools have going for them is the community. We have a community that just breathes academic excellence. We want our kids to get the very best. We’re demanding that from the schools, so they feel empowered to offer it to us.

“The kids really are the bottom line. Whether it’s a large school system, a charter school or private school – a school’s ability to literally live in the community that they are serving and be a part of that community and be answerable to that community’s needs, as unique as they are, is critical. Families have to have the ability to put their kids in the school that’s right for them, based on how that school interacts with that community.”

Listen as Marielle Howard discusses why schools like Dutchtown High are successful: http://bit.ly/2iR6UFe