Howard School

Howard School Strong Start Plan 2020

Download Howard School’s Strong Start Plan 2020 which includes information about teaching and learning, safety, cleaning/disinfecting, and food services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Important Facts About Our Educational Services

Instruction is provided to meet the specific academic needs of the student via certified and highly qualified educators and support staff.
Academic instruction is tailored to co-exist with psychological and therapeutic interventions.
Qualified educational staff believing that all children can and will succeed by coming to know these youth and what they will need to succeed. Small class sizes of five to ten as well as one-on-one instruction in some situations depending on the appropriate placement setting unique to the student.
Vocational options of barbering, carpentry, and welding are offered to develop career skills and further prepare students for life after MCH.
A self-paced computer-based credit recovery program is offered to high school students to support these youth in making up lost Carnegie Units in an effort to keep them on track for Louisiana’s diploma requirements and graduation.
A traditional diploma track is available for students who have experienced success in middle and high school course work. Courses include all basic core classes of English, mathematics, science, social studies, and physical education as well as computer-based instruction in a laboratory setting.
A high school equivalency diploma track is available for over-age youth or students having no or minimal high school credit hours to achieve a standard diploma due to their behavioral or psychological challenges. Pre-HiSET and HiSET classes prepare students who opt for this educational track to eventually take the HiSET (High School Equivalency Test) rather than pursue the traditional pathway of earning a diploma.
The student to staff ratio is generally 3:1; however, there are exceptions. All classes are well staffed with student safety as a priority.

History of Educational Services at Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home

The history of Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services begins in 1902 when the Methodist Episcopal Church South founded Louisiana Methodist Orphanage. After two years of initial fund raising and organization, child care operations began in 1904 in Bunkie, Louisiana.

In 1906, a group of Ruston’s citizens who had eyes for the future donated a forty-acre plot within the city limits of Ruston and the Louisiana Methodist Orphanage moved to Ruston, Louisiana. In 1956, Louisiana Methodist Orphanage changed its name to Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home. In 1993, the board of directors changed the name of the organization to Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services, Inc.

While the organization provides an array of services to vulnerable children and families across Louisiana, the Ruston campus continues as “Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home” and is the organization’s home office.

The first effort to provide education on our Ruston campus was in 1920, when four teachers were employed by Louisiana Methodist Orphanage to teach 1st through 7th grade residents. Older students attended Ruston High School, one of the finest public high schools in Louisiana. Then, in 1952, Louisiana Methodist Orphanage began sending children who were in second grade and above to the local public schools.

The average age of the Home’s residents increased through the 1960s. During the ’70s, Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home began providing residential care for children who had been removed from their homes following abuse and neglect.

Between 1956 and the late ’70s, the Home fully transitioned from orphanage into adolescent residential care facility. Consequently, there were a growing number of residents whose behaviors prevented their education in the public schools of Lincoln Parish and the Home once again began providing educational services to residents.

Lorraine Nobles Howard Educational Center

In 1985, the Lorraine Nobles Howard Education Center, also known as Howard School, was opened to serve the Home’s residents who were unable to attend the public schools in Lincoln Parish. The first Principal of Howard School was Mrs. Evelyn Wilburn who was followed by Mr. Bill Gullatt in 1986, who, in turn, was followed in 1993 by Mr. Rick Sutton, who was followed in 2011 by Mr. Anthony “Tony” Cain. On October 1, 2015, Mr. Danny Bell, former Superintendent of Schools for Lincoln Parish, became the current Principal of Howard School and Director of Educational Services.

Growing pains in the early 1990’s led to a significant construction effort in 1997, when Howard School was expanded to four times its original size. Howard School contains state of the art classrooms filled with the latest educational technologies, computers and SmartBoards. The school was remodeled and redecorated in 2009 to meet the changing needs of all our residents.

All resident of Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home attend Howard School. In addition, Lincoln Parish School Board utilizes the expertise of our specially trained staff members to assist with Lincoln Parish public school students displaying extreme behavioral problems which prevent them from making progress in a traditional educational setting.

In additional to a regular academic track, Howard School also offers an extremely successful GED/Vocational Education track for students whose academic goals are better served by a career skills-based education. The vocational needs of our residents and the success of our GED/Vocational Education track prompted the development of a standalone Vocational Education Center on the Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home campus in Ruston. In 2010, construction of the John H. Allen Career and Vocational Center was completed on our Ruston campus where students receive instruction in building construction, barbering and welding.

Howard School Mission Statement:

To enhance all students’ social and academic achievements.

Lincoln Parish School Board Vision Statement:

A quality education for a quality life.

Principal’s Statement:

Howard School is located on the Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home campus and is licensed by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Howard School and its teachers are equipped to accommodate junior and senior high students who are emotionally and behaviorally at risk. Howard provides two diverse education tracks for students to participate in the normal track for students preparing for a state university and a GED/Vocational skills track.

Help students develop appropriate behavior patterns, educational goals, and various opportunities to pursue those goals.
Motivate each youth to learn and help him/her enjoy a measure of academic success.
Prepare youth to reenter public school, as soon as he/she is emotionally, behaviorally, and academically ready.
Provide a GED/Vocational Skills Course of study for youth who are unable to attend and graduate from high school.