Original Research by School Decision on Benjamin Franklin High School
Benjamin Franklin High School is a public charter high school serving grades nine through twelve in New Orleans. It operates as its own single-school charter district, a structure that gives the school direct administrative control separate from the larger Orleans Parish school system. The school sits on Leon C Simon Drive, within the dense urban fabric of the city.
Enrollment is sized for a comprehensive high school of this grade span, with roughly balanced numbers of students across all four years. The student body is racially diverse. White students form the largest group, followed by Black students, Asian students, and Hispanic students, with smaller shares of students who identify with two or more races. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in the middle range of economic diversity for the city.
The school’s academic record is not available through the data sources used for this report. State assessment results, which would typically show proficiency in English, math, and other subjects, were not reported or not accessible for this entity. The four-year graduation rate, a standard measure for high schools, was also absent from the available information. Without these figures, it is not possible to compare Benjamin Franklin High School’s academic performance to other high schools in Orleans Parish or across Louisiana. A parent considering this school would need to ask directly about test outcomes, graduation rates, and the school’s overall academic tracking.
No data on course access, Advanced Placement offerings, career and technical programs, or dual enrollment was provided, so the range of academic pathways available to students is not documented here. Discipline, attendance, and staffing data are also missing, leaving gaps in the picture of school environment and support.
The surrounding community is New Orleans, a major Gulf Coast port city known for its music, Creole cuisine, festivals, and historic districts such as the French Quarter. The city continues to rebuild and redevelop after Hurricane Katrina, with concerns about gentrification and displacement noted in recent years. Home values in the school’s zip area sit slightly above the state median but below the national median, with a recent year-over-year decline. Rents have been relatively stable. Broader economic indicators, including the national unemployment rate and median household income, reflect a period of moderate inflation and higher borrowing costs on mortgages.
Benjamin Franklin High School is, on the available evidence, a charter high school in an urban setting with a racially and economically mixed enrollment. The defining gap in this profile is the absence of test scores and a graduation rate. For any family evaluating the school, those missing pieces are the first questions to bring to the school itself. Without them, the school’s academic pathway and student outcomes cannot be assessed from this report.
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