} La Salle Academy is an American private,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

all-boys'

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in the

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. The school is run by the Eastern North American District of the

Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

. It was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1848. The school was first named Saint Vincent's School when it opened on Canal Street. It moved to Second Avenue in 1856 and changed its name to La Salle Academy in 1887. In 2010, the school relocated to 215 East 6th Street, sharing the building with St. George Academy . Various offices are still located in the Second Avenue building. Throughout its history, the school has been home to thousands of "Brothers' boys".

Early years

The school was founded in 1848 when John Hughes, then-bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the borough ...

, invited the Christian Brothers to establish a school in the city. They opened St. Vincent's School in a church basement on Canal Street. In 1856, St. Vincent's School moved to East 2nd Street and Second Avenue, a plot of land that once belonged to

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

. The brothers renamed the school La Salle Academy in 1887. The

Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Depa ...

granted the school a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

in 1896. In 1936, the brothers built a five-story building in order to accommodate increasing enrollment. Over the first half of the 20th century, the school's enrollment grew immensely, from 98 in 1906 to 950 in 1948.

Later 20th century

In 1966, the school purchased the Moskowitz and Lupowitz Restaurant on the corner of Second Avenue and 2nd Street. This became the school's annex that housed the Guidance Department, the Academic Support Center, the Art Department, Drama Club activities, Music Department and more classrooms. Today, the annex houses the offices of the President, Development, Recruitment & Admissions and the Christian Brothers' residential community. In 1997, La Salle received accreditation from the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

and in 1998 celebrated its 150th anniversary. In 2000, the school was named a

Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

for excellence in education. It received an "exceeding national expectations" evaluation in its 2018 report in fall 2017, followed by a Certificate of Accreditation in May 2018 from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools on Elementary and Secondary Schools accreditation team. On assessing the school's Catholic

charism A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα ''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of the ...

, the school was blessed to have been given an exceptionally positive review ("with commendation") by the Christian Brothers of the District of Eastern North America. Dr. Catherine Guerriero became La Salle's first female president in 2014.

Extracurricular activities

The school's Forensic Society won the 1945 state championship. The school's Glee Club, which was directed by Phil Carney, performed for

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

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in 1965.

Notable alumni

;Athletics *

James Bouknight James David Bouknight (; born September 18, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UConn Huskies. Early life and high scho ...

– 11th pick in the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

by the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

John Candelaria John Robert Candelaria (born November 6, 1953) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed "The Candy Man", he played in MLB during the years 1975–1993 for eight teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates, California Angels, New York Mets, New Y ...

(class of 1972) – retired

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher * Eddie Elisma (class of 1993) – former professional basketball player *

Tom Owens Thomas William Owens (born June 28, 1949) is an American retired professional basketball player. Early life A 6'9" center from the Bronx, New York, Owens played for LaSalle Academy and the University of South Carolina. Career Owens playe ...

(class of 1967) – retired professional basketball player *

Metta World Peace Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr.; November 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He was known as Ron Artest before legally changing his name to Metta World Peace in 2011 and later to Metta Sandifor ...

(formerly Ron Artest) (class of 1997) – former basketball player for various

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

teams, including the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

* John Roche (class of 1967) – retired professional basketball player *

God Shammgod god Shammgod (born April 29, 1976, and formerly known as Shammgod Wells) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He is currently a player development coach with the Dallas Mavericks. He played in the NBA with the Washingto ...

(class of 1995) – basketball coach and former professional player *

Bakary Soumare Bakary is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Abubakar Khamis Bakary, Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Tanzania * Bakary Diakité (born 1980), Malian footballer of part German descent currently playing for FSV Fran ...

(class of 2005) – retired professional soccer player who played for the Chicago Fire of

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and the

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

national soccer team ;Film, television and theatre *

Barnard Hughes Bernard Aloysius Kiernan Hughes (July 16, 1915 – July 11, 2006), known professionally as Barnard Hughes, was an American actor of television, theater and film. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most notable roles came after mi ...

(class of 1933) – actor * David Lee Madison (class of 1989) – film director, including the cult film '' Mr. Hush'' ;Religion *

Patrick Joseph Hayes Patrick Joseph Hayes (November 20, 1867 – September 4, 1938) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1919 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924. Early life and ...

(class of 1887) –

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the

George Mundelein George William Mundelein (July 2, 1872 – October 2, 1939) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1915 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924. Early life and ministry ...

(class of 1887) –

of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago ( la, Archidiœcesis Chicagiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. It was established as a diocese in 1843 an ...

(For this reason, the school's mascot became the Cardinals.)

References

External links