In the mid-1990’s, the late Father Harry Tompson, a Jesuit pastor in downtown New Orleans decided to launch an independent Catholic school in order to break the cycle of poverty through education. Based on the Nativity model of education–which calls for a rigorous academic program provided through an extended day and year–The Good Shepherd School opened its doors to thirty children in the fall of 2001, growing to a little over 100 students over 15 years. Given a record of academic and operational success, Good Shepherd School engaged in strategic planning in 2016-17 that called for the original campus to move to a new facility that allowed it to triple in size and launched a network structure to support the replication of its successful school model. The Good Shepherd School relocated to its new facility in fall 2018 and the Good Shepherd Mission Network intends to open a second campus.