Phillis Wheatley Construction Celebration - New Home of Dibert!

Construction is underway at the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School site

Dibert 8th grader, Dameon DeJean, at the celebration

FirstLine Schools came together with the Recovery School District (RSD), Orleans Parish School Board, and community partners last night to celebrate construction on the Phillis Wheatley building, future home of John Dibert Community School. The evening began with a warm welcome from RSD Superintendent Patrick Dobard, a school blessing by the St.Peter Claver Leaders, and a poem performed by Dibert student Dameon DeJean. Lawrence Kullman, chair of the FirstLine board, and a Dibert parent representative shared their excitement for the new building. Mayor Mitch Landrieu and other local leaders also spoke.  Former teachers and students of Phillis Wheatley Elementary School took part in the celebration, sharing memories of the building and the people that worked and were educated there.

FirstLine Board Chair, Larry Kullman

The historic Phyllis Wheatley School building was deemed unfit for the needs of the Treme neighborhood and demolished in 2011. As a part of the School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish, construction on the two-acre site is one of a series of successes in the rebuilding of the city’s public schools since 2008.  

The former Phillis Wheatley Elementary School campus is now becoming a state-of-the-art education facility for Dibert, with multiple computer labs, a gym/auditorium, an expanded ESYNOLA garden, and more!  Dibert anticipates moving into the new address, less than two miles away from their current location, for the 2014-2015 school year.