About

At Opportunities Academy, we serve students with significant disabilities ages 18-22. We offer individualized instruction and career coaching through applied learning experiences. Students build skills that set them up for long term success in work and in life.

Founded as a pilot program for students with disabilities, Opportunities Academy was originally housed in Abramson Sci Academy in the 2014-2015 school year. By the following year, Opportunities Academy had grown into a post-secondary program on both Abramson’s and G.W. Carver High School’s campuses. In the 2017-2018 school year, Opportunities Academy evolved into a type 1 charter school, serving students with disabilities throughout Orleans Parish Public Schools. In the fall of 2019, we moved into our permanent home at the William J. Guste Campus, 2625 Thalia St, in New Orleans’ Central City.  

Opportunities Academy was designed to support each student in achieving their highest level of independence in pursuit of meaningful and fulfilling personal and professional outcomes. Our applied learning experiences focus on the areas of independent living, community access, and career readiness for our students.

The school has grown to include student-run enterprises that reinforce employment and independent living skills. Our students participate in supported internships in which they learn  clerical tasks, do custodial work, run a coffee shop, or work at a car wash. These real-world job experiences help students develop a familiarity with point of sale technologies, customer service skills, and food and beverage preparation techniques. Other students are placed in an externship position with a business in the community. Our students currently work at Centerplate, Herd Dat Kitchen, and Covenant House.

Students spend their days in a loving and supportive community focused on:

  • internships and job skills like prepping for interviews.

  • making friends, helping others, and building a community.

  • practicing how to independently do daily chores for home living success.

  • assisted technology.

  • everyday math and reading skills.

  • healthy lifestyles.

  • using public transportation and navigating the community.

  • accessing the community: library, movies, bank, mall, museums, gardens, public pool, healthcare, and grocery stores.

Students will leave the program with skills like how to:

  • get and keep a job.

  • create a support system with local agencies for services.

  • plan a budget.

  • create lasting friendships and social networking opportunities.

  • grocery shop and prepare healthy meals.

  • independently access the bus for transportation.

  • live more independently at home, with roommates, or alone.