New Era At JSCLA
BOBBY ARDOIN
St, Landry Now.com editor
The doors opened publicly for the first time Friday as hundreds swarmed through the entrance of the newly-constructed J.S. Clark Leadership Academy, anxious to view the 54,000 square-foot school that plans to open Aug. 17.
By the time they squeezed past the front doors, most of those walking into the corridors were sweat-drenched and seemed grateful for air conditioning, after witnessing outdoor speeches and ribbon cutting for the $20 million facility built to accommodate about 450 students in grades 7-12.
“What you see today is the result of 15 years of hard work and humble beginnings,” said school CEO and and president Tiffanie Lewis.
Lewis said the remainder of the 740-pupil JSCLA enrollment will remain at the Statesman Drive campus south of the St. Landry Airport until a new elementary school can be completed at the new middle and high school site on the Lewisburg Highway located south of the Opelousas corporate limits.
JSCLA, said Lewis, will continue to offer its unique high school curriculum, which emphasizes vocational courses for associate college degrees in welding and health care.
Increasing student numbers at JSCLA, said school principal Victor Lewis, necessitated a larger campus.
“We were bursting at the seams at the old campus. Students are attracted to our career paths and the chance to obtain an associate (college) degree,” said Lewis.
Tiffanie Lewis said the neighborhood adjacent to the new school has been welcoming as the school approached completion.
Some of that nearby residential area has been considered as blighted, but Lewis thinks the new school that features a spacious gym, weight room and activity areas, will be an attraction that helps revitalize the socio-economic condition of the neighborhood.
“Our culture is based on our leadership. We will do anything to keep these kids off the streets,” said Tiffanie Lewis.
The projected elementary school is planned to be built nearby, while a football practice field is being mapped behind the gym, Lewis said.
Assistant principal Don Thomas said the administration held an alternative opening on Thursday night that was reserved for JSCLA alumni and former students who attended J.S. Clark High School in Opelousas from the early 1950’s until it closed in 1969.
“We want our alumni and those who were at J.S. Clark to feel like they now have a place they can call home,” said Thomas.
One new feature at JSCLA, said Thomas, is the students will be able to eat at a school cafeteria, rather than summoning noontime food deliveries.
District 40 state representative Dustin Miller told the crowd that the new campus should only augment the course offerings and attractiveness for students..
“If you thought that was something just imagine what they can do in a building like this,” Miller noted.
Opelousas alderman-at-large Marvin Richard said the school is just another component for helping further unite the city.
