St. Paul's School (Covington, Louisiana)

Saint Paul's School
Address
917 South Jahncke Avenue Covington, (St. Tammany Parish), Louisiana 70433 United States
Coordinates	30°28′4.26″N 90°6′19.19″W / 30.4678500°N 90.1053306°W / 30.4678500; -90.1053306Coordinates: 30°28′4.26″N 90°6′19.19″W / 30.4678500°N 90.1053306°W / 30.4678500; -90.1053306
Information
Type	Private, All-Boys
Motto	"Rise Up, O Men of God."
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Patron saint(s)	Saint Paul
Established	1911
Founded	1911
Opened	1911
School code	190-590
President	Brother Raymond Bulliard
Dean	Ken Sears
Principal	Trevor Watkins
Grades	8–12
Gender	Male
Age range	12yr to 18yr
Enrollment	870
Hours in school day	8:00-3:15
Color(s)	Royal Blue and Gold
Slogan	"The Strength of The Wolf is The Pack."
Athletics conference	5A
Mascot	Wolves
Team name	The Wolves
Rival	Covington High School Mandeville High School Fontainebleau High School Ponchatoula High School
Accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [1]
Average ACT scores	25.5 (Class of 2017)
Newspaper	The Paper Wolf
Yearbook	The Conifer
Tuition	$8,700
Affiliation	LHSAA
Alumni	Saint Paul’s School Alumni Association
Athletic Director	Craig Ketelson
Public Relations	Karen Hebert
Alumni Director	Al Nastasi
Business Manager	Jo Sutherlin
Development Secretary	Danielle Lavie
School Receptionist	Janet McRae
Website	stpauls.com

Saint Paul's School is a private all-boys Lasallian high school, located in Covington, Louisiana just to the north of New Orleans, United States. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, the school is run by the Christian Brothers and is one of the 1,000 Lasallian schools in more than 80 countries. It is part of 300 years of history originating from the founding of the Christian Brother Schools by Saint Jean Baptiste de La Salle. In 2015, the United States Department of Education recognized St. Paul's as a Blue Ribbon School.

History

In 1904, a group of residents of the Covington area banded together to fund the building of a new public school. After acquiring a tract of land and building a one-story, 2 bedroom building, the school, called Dixon Academy, opened in 1907. The school failed to attract enough students to remain viable.

In 1911, the school property was sold to the Benedictines of nearby Saint Joseph Abbey. The school was renamed St. Paul's, and reopened in September, 1911, with only 48 students. However, its reputation for academic excellence spread quickly, and by the end of the first session, enrollment numbered 70 boarders and 30 day students.

Meanwhile, nineteen French Christian Brothers had emigrated to Louisiana from France and Mexico, having been exiled for political reasons. After purchasing the school from the Benedictines, the brothers devoted themselves to the school, "not only teaching and guiding their students, but also staffing the school as carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians, and yardmen.".^[2]

Although St. Paul's originally taught students only at high school level, it grew to encompass middle and elementary levels; this continued into the 1950s. However, by the 1960s there were enough other schools in the area to allow St. Paul's to begin to eliminate the younger grades, with the intention of focusing on a college preparatory curriculum. By the late 1970s, the school had a six-year program, 7th-12th grades. The 1981-82 year was the final session with a 7th grade class, and the school continues a five-year program to this day.

The original Dixon Academy building (known as Dixon Hall on campus) had long been supplanted by other buildings, but remained standing and used for storage. In November 1981, during Thanksgiving break, the building burned to the ground; a forensic investigation determined old electrical wiring to be the cause. Using bricks from the original structure, a patio/garden area was created on the site, and dubbed "Founders' Circle".

The last of the original 19 brothers, Bro. Charles Crouzet, remained living on campus, although retired from teaching, until his death in 1985. A statue of Jesus was erected in Founders' Circle and dedicated to Bro. Charles in honor of his faithful devotion to the school and God.

As a boarding school, St. Paul's was able to accommodate students from a wide geographic area; over the years, students from Central and South America, France, Greece, Russia, Korea, and Japan attended. However, due to a general decline in boarders, the increasing expense of housing residents, and the prospect of overhauling a dormitory which was in disrepair, St. Paul's converted to an all day-student program beginning with the 2003-2004 school year.

As of the 2008-2009 school year, St. Paul's boasted attendance of over 800, the largest in its history.

In 2011, St. Paul's celebrated its centennial birthday with a yearlong series of parades, reunions, and other events.

The Lasalle Hall dormitory was originally built as a two-wing building in 1964, with a third central wing added in 1970. In 2010-2011, the center wing (which had deteriorated beyond repair) was removed, and the remaining space underwent a full renovation and conversion into classroom space as the new Math and Science building. The building also houses the Mothers' Club bookstore. In the central courtyard, a set of pillars was added with plaques for each of the Lasallian Core Principles. The first day of classes in the renovated space was January 9, 2012.

During the 2014-2015 school year, St. Paul's started construction on a new gym for the Gene Bennet Sports Complex. The new gym was completed and dedicated in September 2015. The new gym is the primary home for basketball and physical education programs, while wrestling and powerlifting is housed in a renovated Gene Bennett Sports Complex. The new facility increases seating from 855 to 1100, and is air conditioned. Fortunately, once again Saint Paul’s is keeping the past by changes in the “old gym” and embracing the future with construction of the new and much needed larger gym.

Athletics

The first state title in school history was won in 1991 by the tennis team. Below is a list of the sports programs the school offers.

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Bowling- On February 9, 2007 Stephen A. Neal bowled the only perfect game in school history.
• Cross Country. The team won 4 consecutive state championships in 98',99',00',01. In 2011 the team placed 3rd in the LHSAA State Championships and in 2012 were the state runners-up.
• Football- District Champs 1990, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
• Golf
• In-Line Hockey
• Lacrosse. District Champion 2012.
• Powerlifting. The team won the 2012 LHSAA State Championship.
• Soccer. The team beat Jesuit-New Orleans in the 2011 State Championship.^[8] The team ended as runner up to Jesuit in the 2012 State Championship. In 2014, the team beat out Grace King 3-0 to win the championship. During the 2015 season, the soccer team was rated #1 in Louisiana and #1 in the country. They again won the State Championship in 2015 to make it a 3-peat. Then, in 2016, the soccer team defeated Catholic High in Baton Rouge, LA to make it a 4-peat
• Swimming. Colin Babcock '10 won two individual state championships in 2009.
• Tennis. Trey Glorioso and Jimmy Dunn won the regional and state title in 1991 (15-0) and 1992 (13-1).
• Track and Field. The team won their first 7-5A District Championship in 2012.
• Ultimate Frisbee. : 3rd in CHS State Championships.
• Wrestling. Marc Schroeder and Jason Pelloat won individual state titles in 1992. Korey Miller, Norman Faucheux and Lee Morgan won individual state titles in 2009. in 2012, Connor Campo '13 was named an All-American and both Campo and David Englehardt '13 won individual state titles.

Buildings

• Benilde Hall: a three-story building currently housing the Religion and Foreign Language Departments on the 1st and 3rd floors, respectively, with the Library and Computer Labs on the second floor. It is currently being renovated and is expected to be finished by late 2018.
• Main School Building: a two-story building housing the Records/Attendance Offices and classrooms for English and Social Sciences on the first floor and Science and Social Sciences on the second floor. The second floor is also home to the school's science laboratory.
• La Salle Hall: originally used as a dormitory building, but after major renovations in 2011, the building now features over 30,000 square feet of academic space. This building houses the Air Force JROTC, Art, and Guidance Departments on the first floor in addition to the Mothers' Club Bookstore and work space for the Shell Eco-Car Marathon Team. The second floor consists of the Math department and Engineering.
• Briggs Assembly Center: used for campus ministry, graduation performances, fund raisers, school functions, etc.
• The Gene Bennett Sports Complex: basketball court, wrestling room, weight room, locker room, trainer's office, football coach's office
• Alumni Memorial Theater
• Guidance Office Building
• Cafeteria
• Horack Pavilion
• Wolf Dome
• Art Building
• Maintenance Building
• Chapel
• Brother's Residence
• Administration Building
• Band Building
• Hunter Stadium
• New Gym- finished in the fall of the 2015-2016 school year.

Associated Schools

St. Scholastica Academy (Sister school)

Notable alumni

• Ernest Angelo, Texas businessman and politician
• Houston Bates, American football player
• Andy Cannizaro, baseball player
• Ryan Schimpf, baseball player^[9]
• Khaled Mattawa, poet, translator, Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, teacher at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
• Tanner Rainey, baseball player

References

External links

• Saint Paul's School website
• Christian Brothers International
• Christian Brothers N.O.-Santa Fe District