Welcome New Staff

Welcome New InspireNOLA Staff
Posted on 07/20/2021

InspireNOLA Charter Schools welcomed more than 100 new staff to our family today during a new hire celebration at McDonogh 35.

New InspireNOLA family members were greeted with cheers and high fives from school leaders and the InspireNOLA Support Team as they made their way into the building. 

As part of the event, new staff members were introduced to InspireNOLA chiefs and academic leaders and learned more about our organization, mission, and expectations for helping all of our students achieve success. 

McKneely with new staff“When you see our youth, understand that they are coming for your best. They are coming with the hope and promise that you are going to provide better outcomes for their lives that they can’t get anywhere else,” said InspireNOLA Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Jamar McKneely.  “Our students, more than anything, need love. They need someone they can talk to, someone who understands them and that wants the best for them.”

Dr. Wylene Sorapuru, Chief Academic Officer, told staff that we are starting our academic year today.

“We don’t give up on our children,” she said. “We care. We will give blood, sweat, tears, time, resources, anything we have to make them successful and that is why we are here.”

She said it is our job to build strong children and ensure that students are educated not only academically, but also socially, emotionally, and physically.

“We aren’t just educating their mind, but also their hearts,” she said. “That means we have to be in the class to love, to care, to teach.” 

Dr. Juaquana C. Lewis, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction told the new staff that they’ve already taking the first step to making a differences by saying yes to InspireNOLA.

New hire t-shirt“There are 5800 students waiting for you. Be the one: the one that shows up for our students every day,” she said. “When you show up every day, you are changing a generation.”

Dianne Lewis, Executive Director of Exceptional Student Services said we are in this together. 

“We will work together as a team so that we can all be successful,” she said.

Samara Miller, Director of School Culture and Quality said she knows the job of educator is not an easy one and she thanked the new staff on behalf of the students and InspireNOLA. 

“The first thing our kids need to know about us is that you care. We are the ones who have to galvanize them and give them the energy to learn,” she said. “Inspire them. Show up and be dedicated. When it comes to our campus culture, it’s the details that will move you from mediocracy to excellence.”