Back to School New Orleans: New Orleans Outreach

While the official campaign has ended, the children of New Orleans still need your help.

Read some New Orleans Outreach success stories here to see the difference your donations make.

By most accounts, the crisis in public education in New Orleans was a pre-Hurricane Katrina phenomenon; the storm itself effectively destroying what portion of the school system was functioning, displacing 62,000 students and causing $800 million in damage.

Yet, even after tragedy there are beacons of hope and shining examples of success. New Orleans Outreach, a nonprofit community organization dedicated to improving the quality of public education by linking volunteers and community resources with students and schools, has single-handedly impacted the quality of public education in New Orleans.

The results speak for themselves:

• Students who participated in New Orleans Outreach programming averaged fewer than half as many unexcused school absences than those students who did not take part in Outreach’s programs.
   
• Students who participated more than 60 days in New Orleans Outreach Academic and Cultural Enrichment afterschool programming scored 24 points higher on English and language arts standardized tests and 27 points higher on standardized math tests than those students who did not participate in Outreach programs.
   
• New Orleans Outreach volunteers and paid partners put in more than 60,000 hours to help more than 2,000 students succeed in remedial reading and math, arts enrichment, career programming, afterschool academic and cultural activities, summer programming and more.
   
• Read individual stories of success here.

How can I help?

Click here for a list of ways you can spread the word and get involved!

The number of children that Outreach can help is limited only by funding. During the coming school year, the goal is to increase access to New Orleans Outreach’s programs by 20 percent.

Operation Kids and New Orleans Outreach have teamed together to increase awareness and funding for New Orleans Outreach over a 6-week “Back to School New Orleans” campaign – with your help, we can make a difference in the lives of thousands more school children in one of the public education systems that struggles the most.

Your commitment to helping improve public education in New Orleans through Operation Kids and New Orleans Outreach is deeply appreciated. 100% of your donation will go to New Orleans Outreach to provide programming and services to the children of New Orleans.