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| November 21, 2008 |
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New name, same great schoolImmaculata-La Salle’s new name better reflects the school’s 50-year history.
Archbishop John C. Favalora, followed by Msgr. Michael Souckar, blesses the congregation as he exits between rows of La Salle students holding candles, each representing one of the 50 years of the high school’s existence. MIAMI | Back to school came two months late this year at La Salle High School and it was punctuated by a name change. To mark the beginning of the school’s 50th anniversary year, Oct. 20 was designated as “back-to-school day.” After a Mass, current parents and students, along with alumni and former teachers and principals, watched as Archbishop John C. Favalora blessed a name change that recognizes the school’s early history as a dual institution: Immaculata High School for girls and La Salle High School for boys. As of this year, the school will be known as Immaculata-La Salle High School. In his homily, Archbishop Favalora recalled some of the difficult moments that have marked Immaculata-La Salle’s history, from multiple changes in the religious orders that administered the school to devastating hurricanes that have wreaked havoc on its bayside campus. “Not even Hurricane Wilma could destroy this institution,” the archbishop said, adding that Immaculata-La Salle had always remained faithful to its mission of instilling Christian values in all who studied there. Immaculata High School for girls was founded in 1958 on land adjacent to Mercy Hospital, and staffed by the same sisters who staff Mercy, the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine. In 1961, six young Cuban exiles approached Miami’s Bishop Coleman Carroll and asked him to establish a La Salle High School in Miami — the same school they had been attending in Cuba until the communist revolution forced its closure. In September of that same year, La Salle High School opened on the same grounds as Immaculata, with 160 young men enrolled. La Salle was administered by LaSallian Christian Brothers from the original school in Cuba and their counterparts from the northern United States. In 1963, the schools joined their names, becoming Immaculata-La Salle, even though boys and girls continued to attend classes separately. They shared the cafeteria, library, science labs and participated jointly in after-school activities. “It was a time of transition, not only in religious education but in society,” said Sister Marie Therese Evrard, the Sister of St. Joseph who led Immaculata High School during its transition to a co-ed institution, from 1967 to 1972. “Our students were adaptable to those situations.” In 1983, the name Immaculata disappeared completely. “It’s a pleasure and honor to come, especially since they restored the name,” said Sister Kathleen Clark, a Sister of St. Joseph who was part of Immaculata’s first graduating class in 1959. Today, Immaculata-La Salle is recognized not only for the spiritual values it instills in its students, but also for its excellent academics. “I arrived at La Salle having failed the ninth grade in a public school and not knowing any English,” recalled Armando Chapelli, a 1964 graduate. “Three years later I graduated with an academic scholarship to Loyola University in New Orleans.” “Having studied at Immaculata-La Salle was the greatest gift God has given me,” said Chapelli, who was among the group of alumni who suggested a return to the joint name. Another notable Immaculata-La Salle graduate is Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. Today, Immaculata-La Salle enrolls about 700 students and is staffed by the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco. “They teach us to live the faith and develop as individuals,” said Lianne Rodriguez, a senior. “La Salle has helped me discover who I am.” Leal writes for La Voz Católica, the Spanish-language monthly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Miami. |
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