Take a look at the 2 new schools Jefferson Parish is building for $48 million each

BY BLAKE PATERSON | Staff writer

The Jefferson Parish School Board is in the final stages of designing two, new $48 million schools that it hopes to open by the start of the 2026-27 school year.

Architects shared renderings of the new St. Ville and Washington campuses at a recent school board committee meeting. Both schools are designed to educate 1,000 students in grades pre-K through eighth grade.

The new campuses are part of a districtwide reorganization, approved by the board last year, which included the closure of six schools and the relocation of two others.

The new St. Ville campus is slated to be built where the soon-to-be-demolished Helen Cox High School is located. The board decided on that location, at 2200 Lapalco Blvd. in Harvey, after determining that the previous St. Ville site was too small. St. Ville students have been sent to Woodmere Elementary while the new school is being built.

The new Washington campus will be built where Bunche Elementary is currently located. Students will remain at Bunche while part of the campus is demolished beginning in October to make space for the new construction. Once the new school opens, the remaining buildings at Bunche will be demolished to make way for parking.

Both new schools are built around "pods," a spoke-and-wheel design where four or so classrooms are connected by a common area with its own entrance. That common area will feature a science lab and desks and chairs that can be arranged for small-group instruction.

The "pod" design also has a safety component. In the event of an emergency, like a school shooting, the entrances can be closed off, keeping classrooms out of view.

Jefferson Parish Schools plans to bid out the construction of both projects later this year.

Lachin Architects designed the St. Ville campus, and Grace Hebert Curtis designed the Washington campus.