TRAVIS HILL SCHOOL

SCHOOL OVERVIEW

Over 1,000 residents are held at the OJC on a daily basis.  At Travis Hill we offer high school diploma-focused school for the 50-75 residents held there who are between 16 and 21 years old and eligible to attend high school.

Nearly all of the students who pass through OJC have experienced school failure—many did not attend school regularly and were suspended or expelled—and most are far behind their peers academically.  At Travis Hill, we believe it is our moral imperative not only to meet the academic needs of these students, but also to reach out to them, show them we care, and help them find a path forward by tapping into their hopes, dreams, skills, and talents.

The Travis Hill School is student-centered, with an intensive focus on making school relevant and meaningful, creating a culture of high achievement, and developing a school climate rooted in mutual respect and understanding.  

The curriculum is organized around short, thematic units (examples of themes include change, identity, justice, power, choice), each of which runs for approximately twenty instructional days.

At the Travis Hill School at OJC, we place particular emphasis on helping older students who have specific academic needs and credits, improve their academic skills, earn their high school diploma, and start to develop the skills they will need as they transition.  This includes mock interviews, workshops and courses on entrepreneurism, and short modules exposing students to workforce skills in technology and the creative and industrial arts.  

Our school culture and climate is grounded in a set of values (Respect, Integrity, Good Judgement, Hope/Optimism, and Teamwork) and a positive approach to discipline and prosocial behavior.  

​

We also support our students beyond the walls of our school through the Travis Hill Rises program.  Upon students' return to the community, we offer support to allow for a successful transition home and begin the work of reducing the recidivism rate.

We work closely with the staff from the Sheriff’s Office at OJC, actively engage with the families of our students and invite them to be active participants in the life of the school, and partner with members of the greater New Orleans community—building relationships that will support students when they return home.