Noteworthy in Nola

Located on Prytania between Phillip and 1st Street in the Garden District is Louise S. McGehee- a private, all girls K-12 school. (and in one of those odd New Orleans pronunciations, it’s said McGee- not Mc-ge-hee, don’t ask me why)

The school has been open since 1912 and has steadily grown until it now owns nearly the whole block. The Bradish Johnson house (pictured) was built in 1872 for a sugar magnate and currently serves primarily as the school’s library.

My daughter happens to go there, and has since the 5th grade. While it’s true that many of the parents there are ‘society,’ not all are- and I certainly am not.

This is one of my favorite stories:
One morning Alison called me to say she’d forgotten a project that was due- thank god we live so close because this is a fairly regular occurance.

But this was a beautiful spring morning, and I decided to walk the 7 blocks, with my daughter’s rolled up posterboard in my hand and earphones on.

The campus is gated, and you have to be buzzed in; I’d taken my earphones down to do so when I noticed the tour group outside the gate- about 20 or so tourists listening intently to a red capped guide. “This is the Louise S. McGehee school for girls,” he said in reverent tones. “When society ladies find they’re pregnant, the first thing they do is have an ultrasound- if it’s a girl, the child is put on the waiting list for McGehee when she’s barely a twinkle in her parent’s eye…”

And past this group I barrel, jeans, tee-shirt, no makeup, sneakers, headphones. The tourists’ eyes shuttling between the guide’s story and me…clearly, his believability was totally shot.

Here’s a side shot of the mansion- the lower level is actually a locker room, and branching off to the right is the breezeway into a more traditional cinderblock-type school building.

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