Carter Williams is changing schools this year. Nevertheless, he is determined to see that his new school, Greenbrier Elementary in Baton Rouge, offers something that he loved at his old school: singing. Or, to be precise, Singing Pirates.
His father, Kevin Williams, marvels at his son’s willingness to sing pretty much anytime, anywhere. The father rattled off the many places and situations where the boy sings routinely: “Shower. Cleaning. Homework.”
Pirates are the mascot at nearby Park Forest Elementary where Carter attended last year. The Singing Pirates performed a variety of songs at school but also off campus, even singing at a festival.
“He wanted to come here and ask if they could start a singing club for this school so he could still pursue that,” Williams said.
Greenbrier Principal Shayla Hollins said Carter need not worry: She is planning to form a signing club similar to the one at Park Forest.
Williams, an 11-year-old who started the fourth grade, is one of nearly 30,000 students who showed up for the first day of school Thursday in the East Baton Rouge school system. Overall enrollment was 34,225 students, a notable decline from last year when 37,276 were enrolled.
Students grab breakfast at Greenbrier Elementary School during the first day of school on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Staff photos by Javier Gallegos
Javier Gallegos
Charter schools explain much of that large drop. Two of the district’s 12 charter schools — Inspire Charter Academy and South Baton Rouge Charter Academy — have yet to reopen from summer break. Two more, Audubon Bridge and Bridge Academy, are no longer sponsored by the school system and have charters instead from the state.
After removing those four schools from the mix, overall East Baton Rouge Parish school enrollment is down 764 students compared with the first day of school last year. East Baton Rouge enrolled nearly 38,000 students overall last year.
There is a new district-sponsored charter school, Harvest Commons School, that opened Thursday at the former South Boulevard Elementary on the edge of downtown Baton Rouge. The school, which features an on-campus farm, had 65 students enrolled Thursday in kindergarten to fifth grade.
New places to learn
Carter Williams is one of hundreds of children at four elementary schools in Baton Rouge who are changing schools this year. The transfers are part of a series of changes dubbed Realignment 2.0 that were approved in May.
The four schools have new grade configurations. Park Forest and Villa del Rey elementary schools are lower elementaries, concentrating on prekindergarten to second grade. Meanwhile, Greenbrier and LaBelle Aire Elementary are now upper elementaries, limited to third to fifth grades.
Hollins, the longtime principal at Greenbrier, said she likes her new grade configuration.
“We can hone in on those key grades that do the LEAP test,” Hollins said, referring to the state's primary standardized test, which is given starting in third grade.
She said it is a simpler setup than a traditional elementary where separate performance measures are used for preschool, lower grades and upper grades.
Principal Shayla Hollins waves at students as they get off the morning bus at Greenbrier Elementary School during the first day of school on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Staff photos by Javier Gallegos
Javier Gallegos
Other changes have been made for this year. All four schools have much larger attendance zones. Villa del Rey and LaBelle Aire share the same zone, as do Park Forest and Greenbrier.
Greenbrier’s changed attendance zone means that about half of its nearly 300 students this year previously attended Park Forest Elementary, and vice versa. The two schools are 1.3 miles apart.
As part of the reconfiguration, affected schools are adopting programs found at their sister schools. Consequently, Greenbrier this year is offering magnet programs that Park Forest Elementary has been offering in the arts and science.
It is a change for Hollins who has long run Greenbrier as no-frills “school school” where the draw is the core classes. That said, she said she is fond of the courses being added this year, particularly in science — she has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
“It will be very different, but exciting as well,” Hollins said.
Bumpy start for some
The changes in grade configurations, attendance zones and programs, however, have yet to be fully captured by the district’s Transportation Department. Several families, including the Williamses, drove their children Thursday to Greenbrier’s 12203 Canterbury Drive campus after waiting in vain for a bus.
“They didn't come at all,” said mother Marsha Bryant. “We’ve been waiting outside for an hour.”
Hollins said finalizing bus routes is also hampered by the many children who every year wait days and weeks into the school year before enrolling.
“I don’t get it,” she said.
To help ease enrollment challenges, the school system this year is opening a new “Welcome Center” at the former campus of Belfair Elementary at 4451 Fairfields Ave. It is a place where families can assist with enrollment at all district schools, except for those seeking to enroll in magnet programs.
Students eat breakfast at Greenbrier Elementary School during the first day of school on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Staff photos by Javier Gallegos
Javier Gallegos
Another big change prompted this year by Realignment 2.0 is new start times at 12 schools. Those include the four elementaries with new grade configurations and two schools that they feed into, namely, Park Forest Middle and Belaire High schools. Affected elementary schools start classes at 7:45 a.m. — 40 minutes earlier than last year — while middle and high schools now start at 8:30 a.m. — 80 minutes later than last year. They are ending their days at 3:40 p.m. and 2:55 p.m., respectively.
The school system plans to change start times across the district in a similar manner over the next two years. The idea is to better align school schedules with when children learn, based on research on their sleep patterns. In particular, it is meant to give teenagers more time to sleep in the morning.
Kevin Williams is worried how Carter will handle having to get up for school earlier than he has in the past.
“First day is always easy,” he said. “It's the other 179 days that I'm more concerned about.”
The father, however, said he has hope.
“He's always a slow starter,” he said, “but waking up a half-hour earlier shouldn't be that big of an adjustment.”
Staff and teachers at Greenbrier are also having to adjust to the earlier schedule.
“This is definitely gonna be a challenge,” said fourth grade teacher Elazia Washington, who admitted that she is not a morning person. “But I like getting out early, so I can't complain.”