Capdau: Family Culture Powers Progress

Ask co-principals Edward Brown and Dr. Jacquelyn Mahatha what the strength of Pierre A. Capdau Charter School is and they’ll answer without hesitation.

It’s all about the Jaguar family.

“There is a culture that has been set. We have a strong rapport with our parents and students,” Brown said. “Parents know when their kids come here that they are in a good environment, a strong learning environment and a caring environment. When they drop their kids off to go to work they don’t have to worry. Our teachers are committed to making sure we have excellent academics but also to making sure our students and parents know we care.”

“One of the things I like about being here at Capdau is we have a great culture. There’s not a day I don’t get a laugh at the kids, and the staff too. We laugh here,” Mahatha said. “I heard a loud noise the other day and was alarmed so I went to investigate, but it was kids doing a lesson. They were so excited I could hear them all the way down the hall. Our kids hug. Even our middle schoolers hug. Our families hug.”

The two principals plan to use that strong foundation to propel the school toward the goals they’ve set for the 2019-20 school year.

In the latest School Performance Scores, Capdau earned a B for student growth. The score measures student progress toward fully mastering key concepts and skills and proves that Capdau’s teachers are moving students upward.

“We want to increase our School Performance Score and our overall student performance. We value growth in each child,” Brown said. “With so much of a spotlight on School Performance Scores that has to be some of our focus too but we don’t want it to be all of our focus. We want to increase student performance and make sure they improve.”

Part of that strategy includes providing teachers with the support they need.

“We have a lot of novice teachers and we want to make sure we develop them into awesome educators,” Brown said.

The leadership team is putting an even more intense focus this year on making sure teachers master the curriculum. Teachers are also provided with job embedded professional development, opportunities for professional growth, observations that focus on improvement and collaboration and data-driven resources to evaluate student performance.

“We use diagnostic assessments so the students who need support, we already know who they are,” Mahatha said. “All these things, once they align, are going to help our school move forward.”

Another focus this year is increasing opportunities for students outside of the classroom.

“We are really building on our external partnerships to bring in as many opportunities as possible for our students,” Brown said.

That includes a re-established partnership with LSU Health Sciences Center this year to provide tutoring and mentorship for students. Partner organizations such as the Silverback Society for young men and the Beautiful Foundation and National Coalition of 100 Black Women for young ladies expose students to successful role models in different careers and from different backgrounds.

Capdau also plans to continue to nurture its growing English as a Second Language (ESL) population.

“It’s a positive for us. We have strong ESL teachers so our families refer other families to us,” Mahatha said. “It gives our school diversity.”

So is it hard being a co-principal?

Mahatha and Brown say not at all. It’s not the first time they’ve teamed up and, after nearly 20 years in education, Brown said it’s by far the best professional relationship he’s ever had.

“We both keep our pulse on what’s going on. We both observe classes across grade levels and our systems are the same. Our mission, all that’s the same,” Mahatha said.

“We have the best interest of the children first. There are no egos,” Brown said. “When you have that first everything else falls into place.”