FAQ
Our IBM complex in downtown Baton Rouge is located on the Istrouma Bluffs overlooking the banks of the Mississippi River. When French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville led an expedition up the river, his party came upon a red stick marking the boundary between two native tribes, the Houma and the Bayogoula. This boundary marker gave the city its name, Baton Rouge is French for “Red Stick.” Ever since Iberville’s excursion, Baton Rouge has played a pivotal role in the history of Louisiana and became a melting pot of cultures. As the capital of Louisiana, it is the political hub for the Bayou State. Because of its location along the Mississippi, it became a crucial site of commerce, shipping, education, and culture. Several immigrant groups settled in the city, and that diversity has given Baton Rouge, and all South Louisiana, a distinct flair and vibrancy.
Find out more about the city of Baton Rouge here and take a deeper look into what IBM in Baton Rouge has to offer here.
ton Rouge offers families several quality school choices with more than 90 individual public schools. Served by the East Baton Rouge Public School System, the Capital City has a strong magnet school system highlighted by the nationally ranked Baton Rouge Magnet High School as well as Lee Magnet High School which has a STEM focus. Students who enroll in magnet schools are allowed to progress to the next level and are given priority admission to the high schools. Additionally, Baton Rouge offers public schools with particular areas of interest such as the Baton Rouge Center for the Visual and Performing Arts and Baton Rouge Foreign Language Academic Immersion Magnet. You can find out more information here.
In an effort to recognize new and innovative ways of carrying out their mission of educating students to their highest potential, the EBRPSS has also become an authorizing authority for charter schools in the area. With numerous options around the Baton Rouge area, charter schools provide quality education options to the community. These schools include IDEA public schools, BASIS Baton Rouge, and the STEAM focused Mentorship Academy. Residents also have several private and parochial schools available. Many of these are highly regarded and include Catholic High School (all-male), St. Joseph’s Academy (the sister school of Catholic High), Trinity Episcopal Day School, and the Baton Rouge International School.
The surrounding parishes also offer highly rated schools. Within East Baton Rouge Parish itself, the cities of Baker, Central, and Zachary operate their own school districts in the northern and eastern parts of the parish while Ascension, Iberville, Livingston, and West Baton Rouge Parishes all feature quality school districts.
Postsecondary Education: Louisiana has four university and college systems serving public institutions throughout the state.
- Louisiana State University System: The LSU system is headquartered at its main campus in Baton Rouge. In addition to the main LSU campus, there are two other four-year institutions, a two-year college, two health sciences facilities, and a law school.
- Southern University System: Southern University, founded in 1880, is an Historically Black University (HBCU) in Baton Rouge. The main campus houses the university system which has a second four-year institution in New Orleans, a two-year institution in Shreveport, and a law school. University
- University of Louisiana: The Universities of Louisiana, one of the nation’s largest higher education systems, is a family of nine distinctive educational institutions serving more than 90,000 students and awarding more than 16,500 degrees annually.
- Louisiana Community & Technical College System: LCTCS manages 13 two-year public institutions across the state. Many Baton Rouge-area residents begin or advance their postsecondary education at Baton Rouge Community College or River Parishes Community College in Gonzalez in Ascension Parish. The system provides high quality general and technical education allowing graduates to secure rewarding careers in the industries that support Louisiana’s economy.
With so much culture and joie de vivre throughout the region, Louisianans never miss an opportunity to celebrate our favorite foods, music, animals, and folklore. And we take our celebrating very seriously – more than 400 festivals take place every year around the state. From Mardi Gras to frogs, if it’s something people like, there’s probably a festival for it. Baton Rouge’s culture is one of a kind. Whether you’re at a Friday crawfish boil, a Saturday tailgate at Tiger Stadium, or museum hopping, there’s always something to do. Check out all Louisiana has to offer right here.
If there’s one thing Louisiana is universally known for, it’s the food. Fried alligator, po’boys, etoufee, boudin, gumbo…there’s never a shortage of flavor in Louisiana and Baton Rouge is no different. Whether you’re looking for traditional Cajun and Creole cuisine, an all-American burger, or something more exotic, you can find it in the Capital City. Food is central to many local activities and the restaurants and caterers are top-notch.
South Louisiana has a sound all its own. From the jazz of New Orleans to the Zydeco and traditional Cajun music in Lafayette, we move to the beat of our own drum. Baton Rouge is especially known for its support of the Swamp Blues that originated in the Capital City with the likes of Slim Harpo, Lightnin’ Slim, Tabby Thomas and the Neal Family, as well as Swamp Pop, a uniquely Louisiana creation that blends rock n roll, blues, country, and Zydeco into a gumbo of sound. Baton Rouge also attracts international talent from the worlds of music, theater, and the performing arts to the Raising Cane’s River Center. In recent years, the River Center hosted Elton John, Bob Dylan, Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles, and Pippin. The River Center also serves as the home of both the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and the Baton Rouge Ballet Theater. Another popular spot that plays host to music, live shows, and movies is the Manship Theatre. Every year, the Manship hosts the Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival. The theater also hosted the likes of Alejandro Escovedo, the Punch Brothers, and the National Theatre London. Theater Baton Rouge is the city’s community theater and presents a full season of shows on its main stage along with offbeat productions on its second stage. In addition to the in-season shows, TBR has become a holiday mainstay with its seasonal offerings. LSU, the flagship university of the state of Louisiana, has three theaters that play host to the College of Music and Dramatic Arts’ programs. In addition to student performances and recitals, the School of Theater also collaborates with Swine Palace, a professional theatre company supporting the school’s mission and offers a full season of performances at both the Reilly and Shaver Theaters. The Reilly Theatre on LSU’s campus is also home to Playmakers of Baton Rouge, the only professional theater company in Baton Rouge geared towards young audiences.
Louisiana is a beautiful state to explore the outdoors. Whether its golf, fishing, biking, or paddling, Louisiana truly is a Sportsman’s Paradise.
Baton Rouge has a wealth of outdoor opportunities right in the city thanks to BREC, an agency tasked with administering parks and recreational facilities in the Capital City. Featuring more than 180 facilities, there is something for everyone from an extreme sports park featuring an outdoor rock wall, concrete skate park, and BMX track, to nature tours through the Bluebonnet Swamp to an equestrian center just two miles from LSU and numerous golf courses. The furry family members won’t be left out either with five dog parks around the city.
Many people know about Mardi Gras, at least by reputation, but the roots of Carnival go back to medieval France. From the end of the Christmas season (which ends after Twelfth Night with Epiphany on January 6) until Ash Wednesday, French Catholics celebrated a “last hurrah” before the solemn season of Lent began. Today, we embrace this ethos by throwing parties and beads, stuffing ourselves with King Cake, and generally having a good time.
New Orleans is probably the most famous destination of Mardi Gras revelers with parades throughout the season that span the gamut from family friendly affairs to wild street parties, but Baton Rouge and the Acadian region centered around Lafayette have their own unique ways of celebrating Carnival. In Baton Rouge, Mardi Gras is marked as much by pink flamingos as by King Cakes. That’s thanks to a parade that began as a neighborhood party and has grown to be the largest Mardi Gras parade in the Capital City. The Spanish Town Parade is named after the oldest neighborhood Baton Rouge. It takes pride in being off-beat and off-color and this uniqueness is symbolized by the prevalence of “kitschy” pink flamingos. The parade is held the Saturday before Fat Tuesday, but it really begins a few weeks before the parade. The LSU lakes, often home to pelicans during their migration, are mysteriously “flocked” with large wooden pink flamingoes during the dead of night. It is a tradition to try to be in the know so that you are one of the lucky few to rescue one of the prized flamingoes to display for the season. For a more traditional experience with customs dating back centuries, Cajun country celebrates the Courir de Mardi Gras. The origins of the courir are found in rural French communities during the Middle Ages when revelers would travel through the countryside performing for offerings from the villagers. These traditions are carried on in many small towns around Lafayette. Two of the most notable are held in the southwestern Louisiana towns of Mamou and Eunice. While going from house to house, the celebrants beg for ingredients to be used in a communal gumbo at the end of the “run.” The most prized of these ingredients is a live chicken that is often tossed in the air and then chased after by the courir participants. In the past, the chicken would then be used for the gumbo, but today it is usually only caught and then returned to the owner.