Both women had decided to start the school after visiting New Orleans in April 2007.
In October they traveled to Baton Rouge to have the Charter School Application for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved.
It opened on Monday August 18, 2008,[4] with the mission of preparing students for university and for promoting social justice.
"[6] Andrew Vanacore of the Times Picayune said that several teachers, anonymous for fear that they would be fired if their identities were public, said that "the transition has not gone well, and that the social mission the school has been sidelined.
To direct their students to the proper locations, staff members stood in the hallway when classes changed.
[5] As of 2011 it was housed in leased space in a building owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Students were required to perform community service, and eat in a group breakfast on a daily basis.