Superintendent Kim Canezaro and Brandi Forbes, Chief Academic Officer for the Pointe Coupee Parish School Board, recently presented at the Annual Summer Conference of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents & Administrators (LASSA), held in Lake Charles. The district was represented by Karla Jack, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Federal Programs; Dr. LaShonda Victorian, Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance; Tabitha Ransom, Supervisor of the 21st Century Program; and Dawn Albert, Exceptional Student Services Supervisor.
LASSA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to facilitate advancements in student academic achievement through improvements in administrative leadership and to foster effective working relationships with agencies and organizations that advance public PK-12 education in Louisiana.
The organization serves as a unified voice for school system leaders across the state, advocating for education funding, policy alignment, and professional development opportunities for superintendents and administrators.
Superintendent Canezaro and Forbes presented “Star Academy in Action: Driving Transformational Change in Middle School,” sharing how Pointe Coupee Parish brought the program to the district. The journey began when Superintendent Canezaro was introduced to Keith Brown, Star Academy’s Account Executive with NOLA Education, LLC. Before committing to the program, Canezaro focused on three essential questions: What are the results? Does it add workload for teachers and administrators? And what is the cost to the district? The answers were reassuring on all fronts, districts using Star Academy have demonstrated significant improvements in School Performance Scores, increased student attendance, and dramatic reductions in discipline referral rates, all at no cost to the district, with all materials, furniture, and training provided free of charge.
After receiving School Board approval, Pointe Coupee Parish launched Star Academy at Rougon Elementary and Junior High School. The program functions as a “school within a school,” serving up to 80 students in a facilitator-led environment built around STEM-inspired, project-based learning using 7-to-10-day modules. It targets three core pillars: Expecting Excellence, developing internal belief, high standards, and ownership of learning; Creating Connections, building social skills, conflict resolution, and problem solving; and Pursuing Their Passion, guiding students through career exploration tied to high-wage, high-demand jobs right here in Pointe Coupee Parish.
After completing its first year, the results at Rougon speak for themselves. Classroom referrals dropped from 50 to 15 for 7th graders and from 45 to 19 for 8th graders. Attendance rates climbed from 88% to 93% for 7th grade and from 89% to 95% for 8th grade. Pre-test to post-test academic growth data also showed meaningful gains across the student cohort. A video highlighting Star Academy in action at Rougon can be viewed at https://youtu.be/yylRwGKhn0Y.
The program also includes the Star Journeys Internship component, a complete career development platform that guides students from career exploration in middle school through professional employment as adults. Students engage in career activities every seven days through module exploration, and those 16 and older connect with local community stakeholders through hands-on internship experiences. Each student builds a Star Journeys Portfolio, a living record of achievements, interests, skills, and experiences that grows from middle school into their professional years.
The results have been so impressive that the district has announced plans to expand Star Academy to a second school. Pointe Coupee Parish is proud to share this transformational model with school leaders from across Louisiana.