Priestley Charter School of Architecture and Construction

Role: Dean of Design

Priestley Charter was a community initiated high school concept to provide access to both design and construction education to under-served students in New Orleans. At the time, the school was the only open enrollment high school in the Orleans Parish School District. 

The primary focus was not to create architecture or construction track students, but to use the design and build processes to enhance the learning experience through interdisciplinary project based learning. Along with Jared, the teaching faculty worked to coordinate school wide integration of the design process. The core class to the curriculum was the four year Design Studio led by artist and architect instructors. Through partnerships with local organizations, students were regularly engaged in community design build projects. Students were also dual enrolled in local construction courses focusing on welding and carpentry. 

Priestley’s curriculum was a collaborative effort led by the Jared in partnership with the Tulane School of Architecture. Priestley administration and faculty regularly participated in curriculum reviews with Tulane architecture faculty. 

In 2007, Priestley Charter was named “A School of Achievement” by the State of Louisiana Department of Education for an exceptional increase in test scores.