The Jeff Davis Parish alternative school will have a new home and a new name when it opens its doors Friday for the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

On Wednesday, members of the community and family members of the school’s namesake got a glimpse of what the new James Ward Center for Excellence, formerly known as the West End Instructional School, will offer students at its new expanded location.

The center has moved from its former location at the old West End Elementary School on West Jefferson Drive to the former James Ward Elementary School on Shankland Avenue in Jennings. The school closed in 2022 after a new Jennings Elementary School was built.

“We have about 2,000 more square feet and we plan to use it all,” Administrator Lori Lemons said.

Lemons said the new site will create an environment where meaningful and measurable changes will give students more pride and self worth, while aiming to do better for themselves.

About 120 students in grades 5-12 are expected to attend the school. Some students will only attend the program half a day while others will attend school a full day.

“The biggest thing for us is seeing the kids’ reaction, coming into the building and seeing it looks more like a school and is welcoming to them,” she said.

Lemons said the new location will allow the center to expand its programs to give students more opportunity than just a traditional classroom setting with a one-on-one interaction between students and teachers.

“Our vision is to provide our young people with a complete and equal educational opportunity, as we guide them to achievements greater than they thought possible,” Lemons said. “In addition, we want to inspire them to grow academically and socially and to value themselves as well as their peers, and to make decisions that positively impact their futures and their communities.”

The center offers special programs and opportunities for students to learn and stay on track academically while learning behavioral, social and emotional skills needed to be successful when they return to their home campus or enter the workforce.

Among the programs, the center offers emergency medical responder and technical certification and a four-stroke program for students interested in learning to repair mowers, ATVS, motorcycles and cars. A mentor plus program is also offered to at-risk male students, as well as an empowerment program for female students.

Ed Rising, which will introduce students to education-related careers, will be introduced this fall. The school will also offer new multi-sensory education programs and physical education classes. A library has also been added this year.

“We hope these programs will impact our students and make them want to go out into their communities and make a difference, which is what our namesake did,” Lemons said. “It’s only fitting we named it after him.”

Family members of James Ward Sr. and James Ward Jr. were among those touring the new facility during a Breakfast Before Business sponsored by the Jeff Davis Parish Chamber of Commerce. Both men were longtime educators and principals in Jeff Davis Parish.

“I am really proud to see the name out front,” said Alana Ward Robinson, granddaughter of James Ward Sr. and daughter of James Ward Jr. “….My grandfather believed an education was your first source of freedom and that everyone should have access to education.”

Robinson said the center will be a “true legacy” to a family of educators which included her grandparents, father, aunts and sister.

“My grandparents taught school in the days when black people were not allowed to be educated,” she said, adding that in the early 1940s and 1950 black people could only attend school three months a year.

Her grandparents would travel from parish to parish during those three months to educate black children, she said.

“They wanted to devote their lives to education and creating opportunities for kids in their community,” she said.