Benjamin Franklin High School (New Orleans)

Benjamin Franklin High School
Address
Map
2001 Leon C. Simon Drive

New Orleans
,
Louisiana
70122

United States
Coordinates30°01′29″N 90°03′54″W / 30.0246290°N 90.0650362°W / 30.0246290; -90.0650362[1]
Information
School typeCharter high school, magnet high school
Established1957
School boardOrleans Parish School District (charter school)
NCES District ID2200299[4]
CEEB code192006
NCES School ID220029900888[4]
PrincipalKendall McManus-Thomas[3]
Teaching staff66.43 (on an FTE basis)[4]
Grades9-12[4]
Enrollment1,034[4] (2022–23[4])
Student to teacher ratio15.57[4]
Campus size6.5 acres (0.0263 km2)[2]
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)Green, white and orange
     
AthleticsLHSAA
MascotFalcon
Team nameFalcons
Websitewww.bfhsla.org

Benjamin Franklin High School is a charter high school and a magnet high school in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Commonly nicknamed "Franklin" or "Ben Franklin", the school was founded in 1957 as a school for gifted children. Ben Franklin is consistently named the No. 1 school in the state of Louisiana and has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 15 charter school in the nation.[5] In 1990, it moved to its current location on the campus of the University of New Orleans (UNO) in the Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks neighborhood of Orleans Parish, near Lake Pontchartrain. The school was damaged by several feet of flood water due to Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005, and efforts to reopen the school were covered by nationwide news agencies. The school is part of the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), yet it operates as a charter school and is not administered directly by the agency.

Ben Franklin has a selective admissions process, and according to CBS News is a "magnet for the city's smart and motivated students."[6] Andrew Vanacore of The Times Picayune wrote in 2013 that Franklin was "top-notch".[7] It has been named a Blue Ribbon School five times by the U.S. Department of Education, and was ranked 16 on the 2009 "America's Best High Schools" list by U.S. News & World Report.[8][9] The class of 2008 produced 17 National Achievement Semifinalists, the most of any school in the United States.[10] In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school as the best public high school in Louisiana and the 64th best in the United States.[11]

Ben Franklin is a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs. Notable alumni of the school include Wynton Marsalis, a Pulitzer Prize winning trumpeter, actor Wendell Pierce, and Cedric Richmond, former congressman and Senior Advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden.

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Benjamin Franklin High School
  2. ^ "Benjamin Franklin High School" (PDF). School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish. New Orleans Public Schools. January 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  3. ^ Jarrell, Alex (2024). "Meet the Principal". Benjamin Franklin High School. New Orleans, Louisiana. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Benjamin Franklin High School". Common Core of Data. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  5. ^ "Benjamin Franklin High School". U.S. News & World Report. November 2022. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference CBSNews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Vanacore, Andrew (February 21, 2013). "Xavier Prep alumni will meet Saturday to discuss strategies for keeping school open". The Times Picayune. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Calefati, Jessica (December 4, 2008). "The High School That Beat Katrina". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
  9. ^ "Best High Schools: Gold Medal List". U.S. News & World Report. December 4, 2008. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  10. ^ Montoya, Maria (December 17, 2007). "Brain gain: Ben Franklin No. 1 in National Achievement semifinalists". The Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on December 25, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  11. ^ Sentell, Will (April 26, 2021). "Again, Again, Ben Franklin High School rated tops in state, U. S. News says". The Advocate. Retrieved March 15, 2022.