NEW ORLEANS — Several Jefferson Parish Schools will be merging next year, but only one will be getting a new name rooted in the history of the parish.
As suggested by current Superintendent Cade Brumley at a special school board meeting Wednesday night, Vic A. Pitre Elementary will be named for past superintendent Isaac G. Joseph.
"I think he'd say, 'Wow, they named a school after me?'" said Faith Joseph, a high school principal and Isaac Joseph's widow. They were married for twenty years and raised five children together.
Describing him, she said he was, "just so awesome, gentle — I mean really compassionate about what it is, but he comes across so gentle. And by the time you finish talking to him, you're gonna love him, too."
Their relationship began — and was rooted in — the school system in Jefferson Parish.
Isaac started as a teacher and worked his way up through the ranks.
In 2015, he became the first African-American superintendent of Jefferson Parish Public Schools.
He passed away last June at just 64 years old.
"And since his death, so many people, so many people," said Faith Joseph. "I'm just so thankful. Because even when I'm having a moment, I'll be in Wal Mart or the Mall and people I've never met in my life come up and say, you know, I just need you to know the impact that your husband made in my life."
His legacy was evident Wednesday night when Superintendent Brumley took to the microphone.
"I would further recommend that as the current Thibodaux site moves to Pitre, that the current Pitre site be named Isaac Joseph Elementary," he said. A few gasps came from the audience, and then applause.
The decision shocked the board member and Joseph's nephew, Simeon Dickerson.
Dickerson attended Pitre Elementary as a child.
"I just can't.... words can't express how I feel about it," Dickerson said. "So, I'm extremely excited. Our family's elated, also being that our family is rooted from Westwego when they migrated here. So it's a big deal."
Faith Joseph said seeing her late husband's name on the school will serve as an example that hard work pays off.
"For me to see it, me, my kids, my grandkids to see it, what an awesome person. And he left an impact in our community."
Jefferson Parish Schools hasn't said when it might dedicate the new Isaac G. Joseph Elementary.
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