De La Salle Collegiate High School

De La Salle Collegiate High School
Address
14600 Common Road
Warren, Macomb County, Michigan 48088
United States
Coordinates 42°30′55″N 82°58′29″W / 42.515172°N 82.974699°W / 42.515172; -82.974699Coordinates: 42°30′55″N 82°58′29″W / 42.515172°N 82.974699°W / 42.515172; -82.974699
Information
Type Private
Motto Builders of Boys, Makers of Men
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic,
De La Salle Christian Brothers
Established 1926
President John Knight
Principal Stephen Stewart
Grades 9–12
Gender Boys
Enrollment 800-850 (average)
Color(s) Purple and Gold         
Team name Pilots
Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [1]
Newspaper The Co-Pilot
Yearbook The Pilot
Website www.delasallehs.com

De La Salle Collegiate High School is an all-boys Catholic high school run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. Founded in 1926, the school was located on the east side of Detroit before moving to its current location in Warren, Michigan in 1982. The school is dedicated to the Catholic education of its diverse students, including the poor and disadvantaged. It is a college preparatory school inspired by the spirit and tradition of St. John Baptist de La Salle, where learning takes place in the presence of God. Each student is encouraged to develop his faith, character, intellect, and morality. This mission is embodied in the school’s motto: “Builders of Boys, Makers of Men.”

The school's most notable rivals in terms of athletics are Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi, Michigan, Saint Mary's Preparatory in Orchard Lake, Michigan, and U of D Jesuit High School in Detroit, Michigan.

History of De La Salle Collegiate

The school first opened in 1926 across from a river called Conner Creek, but Detroit City Airport opened soon after the building of the school. The airplanes taking off would often cause the building to shake, later necessitating a change in location. The first class graduated in 1929.

Sports

De La Salle Collegiate is a Class A MHSAA-member school, as well as a member of the Catholic High School League Central Division in all sports with an enrollment of approximately 790 students from nearly 50 Metro Detroit communities and nearly 100 schools. 2014 and 2017 D-2 Football State Champions. They are also the 2016 D-1 Baseball State Champions, and 2017 D-3 Hockey State Champions (see Academic and Athletic recognition, below).

Symbols

The school’s seal is used in relation to academics. It was redesigned in 2002 for the third time.

The school’s DLS logo was designed in the late 1960s by Sam Viviano, Class of 1971, current Art Director for Mad Magazine. It is primarily used by the sports teams.

When the school first opened in 1926, a riverboat pilot (captain) was the school's mascot. In 1937, the school changed its mascot from the riverboat pilot to the present day airplane pilot, designed by Matt Sikora.

Student publications

De La Salle produces an annual yearbook called The Pilot which recounts the year’s events, activities, sports and academic achievements. It is distributed in the fall.

The student newspaper is called The Co-Pilot and is published by the Journalism class.

The alumni newsletter is called The Collegiate and is published three times a year by the Office of Advancement.

Class day

The school day is divided into 16 mods, which are 23 minutes long, resulting in 47-minute classes. The school day begins at 8:00 AM and ends at 2:45 PM during most school days.

During the school day, students with open mods are to be in one of the following places:

  • Digital Resource Center (DRC) for quiet study, use of computers, or research.
  • Student Commons where students talk quietly, study, and socialize
  • Cafeteria where students eat and socialize.

Religious notes

Prayers at De La Salle open with the phrase, "Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God."

Classroom formal and informal prayers usually close with the following:

Reader: “St. John Baptist de La Salle.”

Response: “Pray for us.”

Reader: “Live Jesus in our hearts.”

Response: “Forever.” They share this prayer with Cincinnati La Salle High School. Both are Christian Brothers schools.

Academic and athletic recognition

  • De La Salle is an authorized International Baccalaureate School. The first cohort began the program in Fall 2015.
  • De La Salle Collegiate continues to receive national recognition for its academics, athletics and fine arts. In the last ten years, 99.8% of its students have enrolled in college after graduation.
  • In 2001, the concert and jazz bands, as well as the show choir and men's chorus performed in China. De La Salle’s band program was one of only two chosen throughout the United States to perform in China that year.Currently, De La Salle also offers Mandarin Chinese class from level 1 to level 3.
  • De La Salle Collegiate sports teams have appeared in 17 state finals in various sports since 1982, finishing as finalists in basketball (1982), soccer (1994), and football (2006 & 2008), while winning its first State Championship in 1990 in soccer.

In 2011, Brennan Kelly became the first all-state wrestler in DLS history, taking 8th at the state tournament. The achievement was matched by Jacob Van Ittersum, Class of 2014. DLS has won 16 more State Championships (five in soccer, five in baseball, two in bowling, two in football (most recently in 2017), one in lacrosse, and one in hockey (in 2017). In 2018, the DLS varsity bowling team won the regional championship, qualifying for the state championships for the first time since 2006. The bowling team finished fifth in the state, and Jacob Kujawa (class of 2019) was the top individual bowler for the Pilots, and finished 21st in the state tournament. The 2018 DLS basketball team won their quarterfinal match-up against their nemesis U-D Jesuit, to advance to the semi-finals at the Breslin Center on the MSU campus.

  • In 2009, De La Salle Collegiate had 5 athletic teams win the Catholic League Championship, setting a new school record. The 2009 football team had the best record in school history by going 13-1 losing in the State Championship. They also won a state championship in baseball.
  • Sam Viviano became De La Salle's first Presidential Scholar in 1971.
  • In 2010, De La Salle's second Presidential Scholar, Bernard VanBerkum, was named. Only 141 students across the country received the prestigious honor, having demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, service, and contribution to school and community.

Notable alumni

School song

The "School Song" was written by H. O'Reilly Clint in the late 1920s. It is traditional for each class to compete in singing the School Song at the first pep rally in the fall.

The lyrics[6] are as follows:

"De La Salle, we’re rooting for you,
De La Salle, oh can’t you see,
Everyone of us is for you,
We’ll cheer you on to victory.
Rah! Rah!
To the Gold and to the Purple,
We will pledge our loyalty,
And may years add but fame
To that grand old name.
De La Salle! De La Salle!"

Alma mater

The "Alma Mater" was written, like the "School Song", by H. O'Reilly Clint in the late 1920s.

The lyrics[6] are as follows:

"De La Salle, we pledge to thee
Hearts inspired with loyalty
Proudly we thy praises sing;
Boldly may thy anthems ring.
Purple and Gold,
To thee we shall be true;
Alma Mater ever faithful
Sons for you."

Notes and references

  1. ↑ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  2. ↑ http://www.tidesports.com/article/20090808/NEWS/908079931?p=2&tc=pg
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
  6. 1 2 "History of DLS Home Page". Retrieved 11 April 2010.
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