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Benjamin Franklin High School (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Franklin High School is a public magnet
high school
in New Orleans
, Louisiana
, USA. Commonly nicknamed "Franklin" or "Ben Franklin", this school should not be confused with Franklin High School in Franklin, Louisiana
. Ben Franklin was founded in 1957 as a school for gifted
children. In 1990, it moved to its current location on the campus of the University of New Orleans
(UNO) in the Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks
neighborhood of Orleans Parish
, near Lake Pontchartrain
. The school was damaged by several feet of flood water due to Hurricane Katrina
in the fall of 2005, and efforts to reopen to school were covered by nationwide news agencies. Although the school is part of the Orleans Parish School District
, it operates as a charter school
under UNO.
Ben Franklin has a selective admissions process, and according to CBS News
is a "magnet for the city's smart and motivated students." It has been named a Blue Ribbon School
three times by the U.S. Department of Education, and was ranked 16 on the 2009 "America's Best High Schools" list by U.S. News & World Report
. The class of 2008 produced 17 National Achievement Semifinalists, the most of any school in the United States
.
Ben Franklin is a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association
and offers a variety of sports programs. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs. Because of its selective admissions policies, the school was accused in 1996 of an admissions bias against African American
s. Notable alumni of the school include Wynton Marsalis
, a Pulitzer Prize
winning trumpeter.
Benjamin Franklin High School opened as a school for gifted
children in 1957 under the direction of School Superintendent James F. Redmond and Principal Naomi Gardberg. At the time, schools under the Orleans Parish School Board were segregated
. In 1960, Judge J. Skelly Wright
of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
ordered the desegregation of New Orleans schools in Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board. In response to the order, 2,000 youths surged through New Orleans streets in demonstrations against school integration on November 16, 1960. Only eight Franklin students were absent from class. A Time Magazine article later stated that Redmond's "proudest memory of the first day of integration three weeks ago, when truancy was rife, is that 'my Franklin kids stuck with it.'"
From its inception, Franklin was designed to be a public school for gifted students, and admissions requirements included having a 120 IQ. Following an appeal of Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stated in 1962 that Franklin was "one of the finest schools in the country for superior students" and suggested that African American students who met the school's exacting admissions requirements be admitted. Under pressure from federal courts, Franklin became the first public high school in New Orleans to desegregate in 1964.
For over 30 years the school was housed in a historic courthouse on Carrollton Avenue
in Uptown New Orleans
. Built in 1855, the building had served as the Jefferson Parish Courthouse until the City of Carrollton
was incorporated into New Orleans. By 1987, the building had fallen into disrepair and lacked basic air conditioning. Despite these conditions, Franklin maintained a reputation as a place of academic excellence.
In the late 1980s, the Orleans Parish School Board leased land from the University of New Orleans
(UNO) and built a larger and more modern campus for Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin moved to this current Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks
campus during the 1989–1990 school year. The building was designed by E. Eean Mcnaughton Architects and received an honor award from the American Institute of Architects
Gulf States Region in 1994. Visitors to the school included President Bill Clinton
, who spoke with Franklin students on April 30, 1993 about his plans to create a National Service Initiative.
Ben Franklin is located near the London Avenue Canal
. Like most other UNO buildings and New Orleans public schools, Ben Franklin was damaged by several feet of flood water due to Hurricane Katrina
. The school was closed before the storm hit on August 29, 2005, and remained closed for several months. Over US$
3 million in damage was caused by the storm. School administration, faculty, parents, students, alumni, and volunteers participated in a massive cleanup effort, without funding from and independent of the Orleans Parish School Board. The effort was chronicled by several nationwide news agencies.
After Katrina, Ben Franklin received support from across the nation and around the world. On December 8, 2005, the United States Ambassador to Germany, William R. Timken, Jr.
, accepted a "Band of Friendship" from the students of Clay Oberschule, Ben Franklin's official GAPP
partner school in Berlin, Germany. Monetary contributions included $10,000 from the government of France
and a $70,000 grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries. The school re-opened as a charter school on January 17, 2006, the 300th birthday of its namesake Benjamin Franklin
. The re-opening ceremony was held in the previously flooded-out gym. The gym had been the most severely damaged structure on campus; all of the floor tiles had to be removed and replaced, and the wind-damaged ceiling had to be repaired. In 2007, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary with a free reception.
An admissions test is required to apply to Ben Franklin. Enrollment is open to residents of Orleans Parish entering ninth, tenth, or eleventh grade. Students applying for tenth grade must have one credit in English, math, science, social studies, and foreign language. Students applying for 11th grade must have two credits in each of the listed courses. Admission is based on an applicant's GPA
and performance on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or the Iowa Tests of Educational Development
for reading, language, and mathematics. The Iowa Tests are administered at Ben Franklin. All students meeting the criteria for entrance into 9th grade are also required to pass the LEAP 21 exam (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century Exam taken in 8th grade). Ben Franklin had 609 students during the 2009-2010 school year. The demographics were 270 (44.3%) Caucasian, 183 (30%) African American
, 141 (23.2%) Asian/Pacific Islander
, 14 (2.23%) Hispanic
, and 1 (0.002%) American Indian/Alaskan Native
.
Ben Franklin features a college-preparatory curriculum and an Advanced Placement (AP) Program
. Students are required to complete a minimum of 24 academic units that includes 4 in English, 3 in foreign language, 4 in mathematics, 4 in science, 4 in social science, 2 in electives, 1.5 in physical education, .5 in health, and starting with the class of 2012, 1 credit in the arts. As of 2008, the school offers 20 AP courses for students to earn college credit. A selection of elective courses are offered, including studio art, creative writing, music appreciation, and theater. The foreign language offerings are French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, and Latin. Students may also enroll concurrently at local universities and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
(NOCCA). The school is within walking distance of the UNO library, and students can obtain library cards through a "special borrowers" program.
According to CBS News
, Ben Franklin is "one of the best public high schools in the country — a magnet for the city's smart and motivated students." Approximately 99.5% of each graduating class enters a four-year college. Of the 162 students in the class of 2006, 28 were National Merit Semifinalists
, 7 were National Achievement Finalists, and 3 were Hispanic Scholars. The class of 2008 produced 17 National Achievement Semifinalists, the most of any school in the United States. For the class of 2005, the mean SAT
Verbal score was 645, and the mean SAT Math score was 636. The mean ACT
composite score was 27.2. One hundred percent of Franklin students passed the Louisiana Graduate Exit Examination (GEE) in Spring 2006, with a significant number achieving Advanced and Mastery level.
In the fall of 2005, Ben Franklin was one of three high schools given a five star rating (the highest possible) by the Louisiana Department of Education, based on its School Performance Score (SPS). The SPS is based on test scores from LEAP/GEE subject area tests in addition to "The Iowa Tests" results and attendance/dropout data. The following table displays the three schools, along with their respective SPS in 2005.
In fall 2008, the Louisiana Department of Education rated schools in Orleans Parish for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. With an SPS of 165.2, Ben Franklin again had the highest performance score in the state.
Benjamin Franklin High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School
by the U.S. Department of Education
in 1989, 2003, and 2009. It has been ranked by Newsweek
and U.S. News & World Report
as one of the top 50 public schools in the U.S. with regards to student test scores and advanced placement programs. Ben Franklin was listed as one of the elite public schools in the country by Newsweek in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 and 2009, Franklin was no longer listed as a "public elite" and instead ranked numbers 35 and 52, respectively, on the complete Newsweek lists of "America's Top Public High Schools." Ben Franklin was also ranked 16 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report on its 2009 "America's Best High Schools" list and was one of its featured stories. Additionally, 2 art and 12 academic Presidential Scholars have been selected from the school as of 2007.
Ben Franklin teams are known as the "Falcons" with school colors green, white, and orange. The Falcons are in District 11-3A (Div. II) of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association
and features the following athletic programs:
The Ben Franklin girls' soccer team was the Class 4A State Champion in 1998, 2003, and 2004, and the volleyball team won state titles in 1996, 2002, and 2003. In 16 years as Ben Franklin's head volleyball coach, Jodee Pulizzano led Franklin teams to six Division II state championships and two runner-up trophies.
Accomplishments since 1996 include:
In 2007, the Ben Franklin football team made the Class 3A playoffs for the first time in school history. However, they went on to lose in the first round to Amite High School.
, who served as part-time band director and music teacher from 1974 until 1991. His students included trumpeter Wynton Marsalis
, who enrolled concurrently at Ben Franklin and NOCCA. In 2005, the band room and music lockers at Ben Franklin were flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, destroying the school's collection of instruments, privately-owned instruments left behind by students, and approximately $100,000 of sheet music. The Tipitina's Foundation
, New Orleans Music Exchange, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, and P.S. 54 Charles W Leng School were among the contributors who helped the music program continue. Student musicians in the concert band
and string orchestra
participate annually in the Louisiana Music Educator's Association (LMEA) State Festivals, where they often collect "Superior" ratings.
In March 2008, Franklin theater students were able to conduct a mixed-media performance of James Still's "And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank" with Holocaust
survivor/author Eva Schloss in attendance. The play was co-sponsored by the National World War II Museum
and coincided with Schloss' lecture at the museum.
and the American Scholastic Press Association, winning a Silver Crown and First Place classification in 2008 and a Gold Crown and First Place with Special Merit classification in 2009. The Spring 2008 volume featured student poetry, short stories, original art, and an interview with writer Andrei Codrescu
.
's Spirit of Recovery conference and USA Today
, was designed to “give a cohesive and layered forum to the fractured voices of those seniors who were displaced and those who remained in New Orleans, aiming to, above all, nurture and heal the vibrant social fabric that Katrina threatened to destroy.”
's Lost in the Cosmos
, the lead character attends Franklin.
Portions of the school's atrium and front entrance were used in the 2004 Disney Channel
movie Stuck in the Suburbs
. The school was also used for portions of the 2005 Lifetime Television
movie Odd Girl Out
.
In Julie Smith's mystery novel Louisiana Hotshot, murder victim Rhonda Bergeron is said to have graduated from Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans. In Ronald Everett Capps' novel Off Magazine Street (loosely adapted into the film A Love Song for Bobby Long
), Byron Burns decides to send Hanna to Benjamin Franklin High School, a school "he had heard had a fair reputation."
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, USA. Commonly nicknamed "Franklin" or "Ben Franklin", this school should not be confused with Franklin High School in Franklin, Louisiana
Franklin, Louisiana
Franklin is a city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. Ben Franklin was founded in 1957 as a school for gifted
Gifted education
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented...
children. In 1990, it moved to its current location on the campus of the University of New Orleans
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...
(UNO) in the Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks
Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks, New Orleans
Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the city's Gentilly District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Lake Pontchartrain to the north, the Industrial Canal to the east, Leon C. Simon Drive, Elysian Fields Avenue, New...
neighborhood of Orleans Parish
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, near Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest inland saltwater body of water in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake.It covers an area of with...
. The school was damaged by several feet of flood water due to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in the fall of 2005, and efforts to reopen to school were covered by nationwide news agencies. Although the school is part of the Orleans Parish School District
New Orleans Public Schools
New Orleans Public Schools is a public school system that serves all of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schools within the system are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board , which directly administers 4 schools and has granted charters to another 12,...
, it operates as a charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
under UNO.
Ben Franklin has a selective admissions process, and according to CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
is a "magnet for the city's smart and motivated students." It has been named a Blue Ribbon School
Blue Ribbon Schools Program
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States government program created in 1981 to honor schools which have achieved high levels of performance or significant improvements with emphasis on schools serving disadvantaged students. The program centers around a self-assessment conducted by the...
three times by the U.S. Department of Education, and was ranked 16 on the 2009 "America's Best High Schools" list by U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
. The class of 2008 produced 17 National Achievement Semifinalists, the most of any school in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Ben Franklin is a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association
Louisiana High School Athletic Association
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is the agency which regulates and promotes the interscholastic athletic competitions of all high schools in the state of Louisiana.- Organization :...
and offers a variety of sports programs. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs. Because of its selective admissions policies, the school was accused in 1996 of an admissions bias against African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s. Notable alumni of the school include Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning trumpeter.
History
Gifted education
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented...
children in 1957 under the direction of School Superintendent James F. Redmond and Principal Naomi Gardberg. At the time, schools under the Orleans Parish School Board were segregated
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
. In 1960, Judge J. Skelly Wright
J. Skelly Wright
James Skelly Wright was a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and anti-segregationist. The J...
of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana is a federal trial court based in New Orleans. Like all U.S...
ordered the desegregation of New Orleans schools in Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board. In response to the order, 2,000 youths surged through New Orleans streets in demonstrations against school integration on November 16, 1960. Only eight Franklin students were absent from class. A Time Magazine article later stated that Redmond's "proudest memory of the first day of integration three weeks ago, when truancy was rife, is that 'my Franklin kids stuck with it.'"
From its inception, Franklin was designed to be a public school for gifted students, and admissions requirements included having a 120 IQ. Following an appeal of Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stated in 1962 that Franklin was "one of the finest schools in the country for superior students" and suggested that African American students who met the school's exacting admissions requirements be admitted. Under pressure from federal courts, Franklin became the first public high school in New Orleans to desegregate in 1964.
For over 30 years the school was housed in a historic courthouse on Carrollton Avenue
Carrollton Avenue
Carrollton Avenue is a major thoroughfare stretching across the Uptown/Carrollton and Mid-City districts of New Orleans. South Carrollton Avenue runs from St. Charles Avenue in the Riverbend in a northeast lakebound direction through Carrollton and into Mid-City...
in Uptown New Orleans
Uptown New Orleans
Uptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
. Built in 1855, the building had served as the Jefferson Parish Courthouse until the City of Carrollton
Carrollton, Louisiana
Carrollton is a neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, which includes the Carrollton Historic District. It is the part of Uptown New Orleans farthest up river from the French Quarter...
was incorporated into New Orleans. By 1987, the building had fallen into disrepair and lacked basic air conditioning. Despite these conditions, Franklin maintained a reputation as a place of academic excellence.
In the late 1980s, the Orleans Parish School Board leased land from the University of New Orleans
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...
(UNO) and built a larger and more modern campus for Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin moved to this current Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks
Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks, New Orleans
Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the city's Gentilly District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Lake Pontchartrain to the north, the Industrial Canal to the east, Leon C. Simon Drive, Elysian Fields Avenue, New...
campus during the 1989–1990 school year. The building was designed by E. Eean Mcnaughton Architects and received an honor award from the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
Gulf States Region in 1994. Visitors to the school included President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, who spoke with Franklin students on April 30, 1993 about his plans to create a National Service Initiative.
Ben Franklin is located near the London Avenue Canal
London Avenue Canal
The London Avenue Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, used for pumping rain water into Lake Pontchartrain. The Canal runs through the 7th Ward of New Orleans from the Gentilly area to the Lakefront....
. Like most other UNO buildings and New Orleans public schools, Ben Franklin was damaged by several feet of flood water due to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. The school was closed before the storm hit on August 29, 2005, and remained closed for several months. Over US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3 million in damage was caused by the storm. School administration, faculty, parents, students, alumni, and volunteers participated in a massive cleanup effort, without funding from and independent of the Orleans Parish School Board. The effort was chronicled by several nationwide news agencies.
William R. Timken
William Robert Timken, Jr. is an American industrialist and businessman and former ambassador. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany 2005–2008. He has served at The Timken Company as Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and CEO...
, accepted a "Band of Friendship" from the students of Clay Oberschule, Ben Franklin's official GAPP
German American Partnership Program
The German American Partnership Program , is a high school exchange program between schools in the United States and Germany, sponsored by the US State Department and the German Foreign Office. Organizational support is provided by the Goethe-Institut. The program was started in 1977...
partner school in Berlin, Germany. Monetary contributions included $10,000 from the government of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and a $70,000 grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries. The school re-opened as a charter school on January 17, 2006, the 300th birthday of its namesake Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
. The re-opening ceremony was held in the previously flooded-out gym. The gym had been the most severely damaged structure on campus; all of the floor tiles had to be removed and replaced, and the wind-damaged ceiling had to be repaired. In 2007, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary with a free reception.
Enrollment
Grade (education)
Grades are standardized measurements of varying levels of comprehension within a subject area. Grades can be assigned in letters , as a range , as a number out of a possible total , as descriptors , in percentages, or, as is common in some post-secondary...
and performance on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or the Iowa Tests of Educational Development
Iowa Tests of Educational Development
The Iowa Tests of Educational Development are a set of standardized tests given annually to high school students in many schools in the United States, covering Grades 9 to 12...
for reading, language, and mathematics. The Iowa Tests are administered at Ben Franklin. All students meeting the criteria for entrance into 9th grade are also required to pass the LEAP 21 exam (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century Exam taken in 8th grade). Ben Franklin had 609 students during the 2009-2010 school year. The demographics were 270 (44.3%) Caucasian, 183 (30%) African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 141 (23.2%) Asian/Pacific Islander
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
, 14 (2.23%) Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
, and 1 (0.002%) American Indian/Alaskan Native
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
.
Academics
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
. Students are required to complete a minimum of 24 academic units that includes 4 in English, 3 in foreign language, 4 in mathematics, 4 in science, 4 in social science, 2 in electives, 1.5 in physical education, .5 in health, and starting with the class of 2012, 1 credit in the arts. As of 2008, the school offers 20 AP courses for students to earn college credit. A selection of elective courses are offered, including studio art, creative writing, music appreciation, and theater. The foreign language offerings are French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, and Latin. Students may also enroll concurrently at local universities and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA, is a professional arts training center for secondary school-age children. NOCCA is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The school offers instruction in creative writing, dance, media arts, music, theatre arts, and visual arts, with a summer culinary...
(NOCCA). The school is within walking distance of the UNO library, and students can obtain library cards through a "special borrowers" program.
According to CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
, Ben Franklin is "one of the best public high schools in the country — a magnet for the city's smart and motivated students." Approximately 99.5% of each graduating class enters a four-year college. Of the 162 students in the class of 2006, 28 were National Merit Semifinalists
National Merit Scholarship Program
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and college scholarships administered by National Merit Scholarship Corporation , a privately funded, not-for-profit organization. The program began in 1955...
, 7 were National Achievement Finalists, and 3 were Hispanic Scholars. The class of 2008 produced 17 National Achievement Semifinalists, the most of any school in the United States. For the class of 2005, the mean SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
Verbal score was 645, and the mean SAT Math score was 636. The mean ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
composite score was 27.2. One hundred percent of Franklin students passed the Louisiana Graduate Exit Examination (GEE) in Spring 2006, with a significant number achieving Advanced and Mastery level.
In the fall of 2005, Ben Franklin was one of three high schools given a five star rating (the highest possible) by the Louisiana Department of Education, based on its School Performance Score (SPS). The SPS is based on test scores from LEAP/GEE subject area tests in addition to "The Iowa Tests" results and attendance/dropout data. The following table displays the three schools, along with their respective SPS in 2005.
| School Name | Magnet School Status | Performance Label (2005) | Baseline SPS (2005) |
| Benjamin Franklin Senior High School | Yes | Five Stars | 200.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caddo Parish Magnet High School Caddo Magnet High School Caddo Parish Magnet High School, or simply "Magnet" as it is known by its students, is located in Shreveport, Louisiana at 1601 Viking Drive. Its motto is, "In our hands we hold today; in our minds we hold tomorrow." Its goal is stated, "To share what we know, what we have, and what we are with... |
Yes | Five Stars | 176.6 |
| Baton Rouge Magnet High School Baton Rouge Magnet High School Baton Rouge Magnet High School is a magnet school in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was founded in the early 1890s. The current school building was built in 1928, and, as Baton Rouge High School, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986... |
Yes | Five Stars | 171.7 |
Benjamin Franklin High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School
Blue Ribbon Schools Program
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States government program created in 1981 to honor schools which have achieved high levels of performance or significant improvements with emphasis on schools serving disadvantaged students. The program centers around a self-assessment conducted by the...
by the U.S. Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
in 1989, 2003, and 2009. It has been ranked by Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
and U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
as one of the top 50 public schools in the U.S. with regards to student test scores and advanced placement programs. Ben Franklin was listed as one of the elite public schools in the country by Newsweek in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 and 2009, Franklin was no longer listed as a "public elite" and instead ranked numbers 35 and 52, respectively, on the complete Newsweek lists of "America's Top Public High Schools." Ben Franklin was also ranked 16 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report on its 2009 "America's Best High Schools" list and was one of its featured stories. Additionally, 2 art and 12 academic Presidential Scholars have been selected from the school as of 2007.
Athletics
Louisiana High School Athletic Association
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is the agency which regulates and promotes the interscholastic athletic competitions of all high schools in the state of Louisiana.- Organization :...
and features the following athletic programs:
- Girls: basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cheerleadingCheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, cross countryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, dance team, golfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, soccer, softballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, swimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, trackTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, volleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
. - Boys: baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cross countryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, golfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, soccer, swimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, trackTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
.
The Ben Franklin girls' soccer team was the Class 4A State Champion in 1998, 2003, and 2004, and the volleyball team won state titles in 1996, 2002, and 2003. In 16 years as Ben Franklin's head volleyball coach, Jodee Pulizzano led Franklin teams to six Division II state championships and two runner-up trophies.
Accomplishments since 1996 include:
- swimming-girls (AAAA Champion 1997; Runner-up 1996, 1999)
- swimming-boys (AAAA Champion 2001; Runner-up 1999, 2000)
- volleyball (AAAA Champion 1996,2002,2003; Runner-up 1997, 2004)
- girls' soccer (AAAA Champion 1998,2003,2004)
- boys' soccer (AAAA Champion 2004; AAAA Runner-up 2005; AAA Runner-up 2011)
- tennis-girls (AAAA Runner-up 1997)
- tennis-boys (AAA Champion 2008, 2009; AAAA Runner-up 2004, 2006, 2007; AAA Runner-up 2010)
- Cheerleaders (First place at the Spirit Blast Cheer and Dance Championship 2010 against two other schools)
In 2007, the Ben Franklin football team made the Class 3A playoffs for the first time in school history. However, they went on to lose in the first round to Amite High School.
Performing arts
The music program at Ben Franklin was founded by Peter DombourianPeter Dombourian
Peter Mampreh Dombourian , was active in musical circles in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a music educator, conductor, and musician.-Early life:...
, who served as part-time band director and music teacher from 1974 until 1991. His students included trumpeter Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, who enrolled concurrently at Ben Franklin and NOCCA. In 2005, the band room and music lockers at Ben Franklin were flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, destroying the school's collection of instruments, privately-owned instruments left behind by students, and approximately $100,000 of sheet music. The Tipitina's Foundation
Tipitina's Foundation
Tipitina's Foundation, is a not-for-profit charity organization in the United States in place to encourage the city of New Orleans to continue its musical heritage, in particular in the wake of the city's tragedy, Hurricane Katrina. Part of the foundation's purpose is to empower the youth of the...
, New Orleans Music Exchange, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, and P.S. 54 Charles W Leng School were among the contributors who helped the music program continue. Student musicians in the concert band
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
and string orchestra
String orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...
participate annually in the Louisiana Music Educator's Association (LMEA) State Festivals, where they often collect "Superior" ratings.
In March 2008, Franklin theater students were able to conduct a mixed-media performance of James Still's "And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank" with Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivor/author Eva Schloss in attendance. The play was co-sponsored by the National World War II Museum
National World War II Museum
The National World War II Museum, formerly known as the National D-Day Museum, is a museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the corner of Andrew Higgins Boulevard and Magazine Street. It focuses on the contribution made by the United States to victory by the...
and coincided with Schloss' lecture at the museum.
Publications
Ben Franklin publications include The Franklin Key (school newspaper), The Ben Franklin Post (parent monthly newsletter), The Riverbend Review (literary magazine), and The Franklin Falcon (yearbook). The Riverbend Review, published since 1987, has received numerous awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press AssociationColumbia Scholastic Press Association
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association is an international student press association, founded in 1925, whose goal is to unite student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges, textbooks, critiques and award programs...
and the American Scholastic Press Association, winning a Silver Crown and First Place classification in 2008 and a Gold Crown and First Place with Special Merit classification in 2009. The Spring 2008 volume featured student poetry, short stories, original art, and an interview with writer Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He was Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009....
.
Clubs and organizations
The following list includes clubs offered at Ben Franklin High School in 2011-2012.- Academic GamesAcademic GamesAcademic Games is a U.S. competition in which players win by out-thinking each other in mathematics, language arts, and social studies. Formal tournaments are organized by local leagues, and on a national level by the Academic Games Leagues of America...
- Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
- Animal Conservation Club
- Art Club
- Arts and Crafts Club
- Asian Pacific Club
- Boys' Volleyball Club
- Black Culture Club
- Book Club
- Chamber Music Club
- Cheerleaders
- Chess
- Close-Up: Washington, D.C.
- Culinary Club
- Dance Team
- Dance Appreciation Club
- Drama Club (Produces school plays)
- Film Appreciation Club
- Free Thinkers Society
- French Club
- FTV (Falcon Television)
- Gay/Straight Alliance
- Generations to Generations
- German Club (Delta Epsilon Phi)
- German School Exchange Program (GAPP)German American Partnership ProgramThe German American Partnership Program , is a high school exchange program between schools in the United States and Germany, sponsored by the US State Department and the German Foreign Office. Organizational support is provided by the Goethe-Institut. The program was started in 1977...
- Green Society
- Hebrew Culture Club
- Hispanic Culture Club
- Interact Club
- Iota Sigma
- IT Club
- Key ClubKey ClubKey Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International family of service-leadership programs...
- Latin Club
- Mock Trial
- Mu Alpha ThetaMu Alpha ThetaMu Alpha Theta is a United States mathematics honor society for high schools and two-year colleges. It has over 89,000 student members in more than 1,800 schools worldwide. Its main goals are to inspire keen interest in mathematics, develop strong scholarship in the subject, and promote the...
- National Honor SocietyNational Honor SocietyThe National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
- Outdoor Adventure Club
- Peer Assistance Team
- Photography Club
- Political Science Club
- Quiz Bowl
- Riverbend Review
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Club
- Science OlympiadScience OlympiadScience Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
- Speech/Debate Team
- Table Tennis Club
- Theater Tech-Knows
- Young Democrats
- Young RepublicansYoung RepublicansThe Young Republicans is an organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization and chapters in individual states....
- Young Pianists' Club
- Youth Rebuilding New Orleans (YRNO)
Yearbook 2006
The class of 2006 was the subject of an online documentary called Yearbook 2006, created by bluecadet interactive and produced by Josh Goldblum, Josh Cogan, and David Lee. The non-profit Web-based project features 140 minutes of raw interviews as well as photographs and other multimedia designed to capture the lives of about 30 Franklin seniors after Katrina. The project, featured in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services AdministrationSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with improving the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and cost to...
's Spirit of Recovery conference and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, was designed to “give a cohesive and layered forum to the fractured voices of those seniors who were displaced and those who remained in New Orleans, aiming to, above all, nurture and heal the vibrant social fabric that Katrina threatened to destroy.”
Accusations of bias in admissions
The school's selective admissions policies have led to accusations of bias. Before Hurricane Katrina, it was estimated that 450 of 800 applicants on average were not accepted because of insufficient grades and test scores. Compared to the rest of the city, the school has a disproportionately low percentage of African Americans. Carl Galmon, a local activist, claimed in 1996 that Franklin's admissions tests are culturally biased against black students. Following Katrina, the school converted to a charter school and preserved its selective admissions system. The school has received praise for traditionally producing some of the "highest-performing students in the entire state of Louisiana," including an exceptional number of students awarded by the National Achievement Scholarship Program of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a program open only to African Americans.Notable alumni
- Kim M. Boyle: first African American President of the New Orleans Bar Association, President-Elect of the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) for 2008-2009
- Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet: opera singer - attended Ben Franklin/NOCCA
- Lolis E. Elie: Times-Picayune columnist, writer, author of Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country (ISBN 1-58008-660-8)
- Ted FrankTed FrankTheodore H. Frank is an American lawyer, legal writer and blogger, based in Washington, D.C.. He is the founder and president of the Center for Class Action Fairness , established in 2009...
: Director of the AEI Legal Center for the Public InterestAEI Legal Center for the Public InterestAEI Legal Center for the Public Interest was formed when the National Legal Center for the Public Interest was merged into the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute in September 2007... - David Freedman: General Manager of WWOZ-FM 90.7WWOZWWOZ is a non-profit community-supported radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana broadcasting at 90.7 FM. The station specializes in music from or relating to the cultural heritage of New Orleans and the surrounding region of Louisiana.-Programming:...
1992–present - Lisa Gaddis: Research Geologist & Chief Scientist: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Program, NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Principal Investigator - Eve J. Higginbotham, MD: Dean and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Morehouse School of MedicineMorehouse School of MedicineMorehouse School of Medicine is a medical school in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.-Establishment:Founded originally as a part of Morehouse College in 1975 during the tenure of college president Hugh M. Gloster, with Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. as dean, The School of Medicine at Morehouse College began as a two...
, first woman to chair a university-based ophthalmology department in the United States (at University of Maryland School of Medicine, 1994–2006) - Joseph Horton, MD: Neurointerventional Surgeon, Founder Micrus Endovascular Corporation, patents on devices for treating intracranial aneurysms, variable focus ### lens.
- Jalila Jefferson-BullockJalila Jefferson-BullockJalila Eshe Jefferson-Bullock was a state representative in the Louisiana Legislature from 2004 to 2007, representing House District 91, which she won from Rosalind Peychaud in a general election after losing to Peychaud in an earlier special election.-Education:After finishing Benjamin Franklin...
: Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana State LegislatureThe Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
- Representative, District 91: 2003-2007 - Anya KamenetzAnya KamenetzAnya Kamenetz is an American writer living in Brooklyn, New York City. She is a staff writer for Fast Company magazine and a columnist for Tribune Media . During 2005 she wrote a column for The Village Voice called "Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young"...
: freelance writer & columnist, author of Generation Debt (ISBN 978-1-59448-907-5) - Saundra Levy: Director of the New Orleans Jewish Endowment Foundation (1991-current), former director of the New Orleans and Central Business District Landmarks Commission
- Dawn Logsdon: director, producer, and editor
- Delfeayo MarsalisDelfeayo MarsalisDelfeayo Marsalis is an American jazz trombonist and record producer.He is a member of the Marsalis family of jazz musicians: father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. , and brothers Branford Marsalis , Wynton Marsalis , and Jason Marsalis...
: jazz trombonist - attended Ben Franklin/NOCCA - Wynton MarsalisWynton MarsalisWynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
: Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
, nine-time Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning musician - attended Ben Franklin/NOCCA - Mark C. Morgan: President Jefferson Parish School Board 2008 District One Board Member 2004 to present, Gretna City Attorney
- James NolanJames Nolan (author)James Nolan is a poet, fiction writer, essayist, and translator. A regular contributor to Boulevard, his work has appeared in New Orleans Noir , Utne Reader, The Washington Post, and Andrei Codrescu's Exquisite Corpse among other magazines, anthologies, and newspapers...
: poet, fiction writer, essayist, and translator - Wendell PierceWendell PierceWendell Pierce is an American actor, best known for his work in HBO dramas, including his portrayal of Detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire and trombonist Antoine Batiste in Treme.-Life and career:...
: actor, star of the HBOHome Box OfficeHBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
dramas The WireThe Wire (TV series)The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States...
and TremeTreme (TV series)Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans... - Wade RathkeWade RathkeWade Rathke is the founder of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and Service Employees International Union Local 100. He was ACORN's chief organizer from its founding in 1970 until he stepped down June 2, 2008...
: co-founder of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform NowAssociation of Community Organizations for Reform NowThe Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...
(ACORN) - Cedric RichmondCedric RichmondCedric Levon Richmond is the U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes most of New Orleans. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:...
: U.S. RepresentativeUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, Louisiana's 2nd district: 2011-current; Louisiana State RepresentativeLouisiana State LegislatureThe Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
, District 101: 1999-2010 - Mark Samuels: founder and president of Basin Street Records
- Gregory Schramel: founder, conservatory director of the New Orleans Ballet Theatre
- Jac Sperling: attorney, Vice Chairman and former CEO of the Minnesota Wild Hockey ClubMinnesota WildThe Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
and its parent company, Minnesota Sports & Entertainment - Misty Suri, MD: Team Orthopaedic Surgeon - New Orleans SaintsNew Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
, New Orleans Hornets, University of New OrleansUniversity of New OrleansThe University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor... - Walter WilliamsWalter Williams (comedian filmmaker)Walter Williams is a filmmaker and comedy writer, most famous for his "Mr. Bill" shorts that aired on the television series Saturday Night Live....
: Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
writer, creator of Mr. Bill
In popular culture
Benjamin Franklin High School has appeared in film, books, and other media. In a short play that appears in New Orleans novelist Walker PercyWalker Percy
Walker Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962...
's Lost in the Cosmos
Lost in the Cosmos
Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book is a mock self-help book and social satire on the American value of autonomy by Walker Percy. It was published in 1983 by Farrar Straus & Giroux....
, the lead character attends Franklin.
Portions of the school's atrium and front entrance were used in the 2004 Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
movie Stuck in the Suburbs
Stuck in the Suburbs
Stuck in the Suburbs is a Disney Channel Original Movie based on unused material created by Walt Disney for his live-action films. It was released on July 16, 2004, and stars Danielle Panabaker as Brittany Aarons and Brenda Song as Natasha Kwon-Schwartz. Brittany, a regular middle school student in...
. The school was also used for portions of the 2005 Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
movie Odd Girl Out
Odd Girl Out
Odd Girl Out is a 2005 drama telefilm starring Alexa Vega, Lisa Vidal, Elizabeth Rice, Alicia Morton, Leah Pipes, Shari Dyon Perry, Joey Nappo, and Chad Biagini. First aired April 4, 2005 on Lifetime, the film is based on the book Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel...
.
In Julie Smith's mystery novel Louisiana Hotshot, murder victim Rhonda Bergeron is said to have graduated from Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans. In Ronald Everett Capps' novel Off Magazine Street (loosely adapted into the film A Love Song for Bobby Long
A Love Song for Bobby Long
A Love Song for Bobby Long is a 2004 American drama film written and directed by Shainee Gabel. The screenplay is based on the novel Off Magazine Street by Ronald Everett Capps.-Plot:...
), Byron Burns decides to send Hanna to Benjamin Franklin High School, a school "he had heard had a fair reputation."