Immaculata-Lasalle High School
Encyclopedia
Immaculata-LaSalle High School is a private
, Roman Catholic high school
in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida
. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami
and located between Mercy Hospital and Vizcaya on South Bayshore Drive.
The school was officially founded as Immaculata Academy, a Roman Catholic college preparatory school for girls, on September 1, 1958. The Sisters of St. Joseph Congregation
of St. Augustine FL were the school's founding religious order.
of the Diocese of St. Augustine purchased 130 of the original 160 acre (0.6474976 km²), 68 acres (275,186.5 m²) on the Bayside and 61 acres (246,858.5 m²), opposite in the pineland of James Deering’s Vizcaya
estate, from Deering's heirs.
In 1950, Mercy Hospital
was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph Congregation
of St. Augustine to serve the booming post-World War II population.
On August 9, 1958 Sister Mary Damian, SSJ – Immaculata Academy community superior, and Sister Marie de Lourdes Ortagus, SSJ – Immaculata Academy principal, arrived at Mercy Hospital. Immaculata Academy was built adjacent to Mercy Hospital facing the shores of Biscayne Bay.
A few days later on August 13, 1958, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Miami was created, including 16 southeastern Florida counties, 51 parishes, 81 priests and 185,000 Catholics. The rest of the counties remained part of the Diocese of St. Augustine. On August 15, Sisters Mary Monica, St. George, and Mary Martha, SSJ arrived at Mercy Hospital, where they shared five rooms within the hospital convent.
Between August 26 and 28, the first Immaculata Academy students - 138 registered for 10th through 12th grades at Mercy Hospital. On August 31, Rev. Thomas Anglim - Immaculata Academy president, conducted the first faculty meeting. Four lay teachers completed the faculty: Mrs. Hortensia San Juan, Mrs. Frank Boscia, Mrs. Frank Kirby, and Mrs. Wilma Pool Knight, who had been at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Mrs. Knight continued to teach Biology and Physical Education at the school for 17 years. Mrs. Knight had also taught Home Economics and Physical Education at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Miami. The school uniform chosen by the faculty was a skirt and blouse of a beige drip-dry material, saddle oxfords, along with a dark brown cardigan for winter months.
On September 1, Immaculata Academy was co-founded by Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley of the Diocese of St. Augustine and Rev. Mother Anna Maria, SSJ. The school name "Immaculata" was chosen to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of her Immaculate Conception. The school opened in the middle of the modern American Civil Rights movement and during the emerging of the modern feminist movement.
Ivan Meštrović
’s Pieta notable sculpture arrived in Miami the same day and was unceremoniously installed facing Biscayne Bay in front of the Immaculata classroom building. When the Diocese of Miami was carved out of the Diocese of St. Augustine, the monument to modern martyrs of Communism, as envisioned and planned by Archbishop Hurley, was never completed.
On September 2, 1958, Immaculata Academy opened its doors for the first time with 153 students. Only three classrooms were ready. While the rest of the school was still under construction, classes were held on half-day session. Because the cafetorium was not completed, students had to use a large classroom on the first floor for cold lunches. (School buildings were to be finished by Christmas; the painters were on strike.) On September 15, full-day classes began. On November 28, the school held its first dance - the Sophomore Harvest Hop, in the newly completed cafetorium, and in December the first Christmas Formal dance took place there. On December 5, Mrs. Mable Franzen and Mrs. J. H. Brummitt became the first cafeteria staff hired. On December 17, the first Christmas pageant was presented.
On January 28, 1959, Rev. Thomas L. McDermott became the second Immaculata Academy president. On March 14, Immaculata community religious moved into their school convent. On May 1, the first student members were inducted into the Immaculata Chapter of the National Honor Society. On June 4, Immaculata’s first graduation class of 26 students received diplomas at the Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables, Florida. On August 15, Sister Marie de Lourdes Ortagus, SSJ was appointed Immaculata convent superior, replacing Sister Mary Damian, SSJ.
In September 1960, Charles Belanger was appointed the school’s first choir director. Freshman class officers elected that year were: Annette Flink – president, Rita Boerger – vice president, Kathy Netter – secretary, and Barbara Lyden – treasurer. On September 8, Immaculata Academy opened for its second school year with 285 pupils, including St. Theresa school’s ninth graders. 1959 was the first year ninth grade students attended the school. Student officers were: Claire Duffy - student body president, Arlene D'Angelo -Senior class president, Christina Montana - Senior class vice president, Ruth Doyle - Senior class secretary, and Veronica Langley - Senior class treasurer. Judith McClesky, member of the Class of 1959, composed the words for the Immaculata Alma Mater. On June 3, 1960, Immaculata Academy graduated 49 seniors from Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Miami.
Sources: Journal of Sister Mary Alberta Stark, SSJ and 1961 Immaculata Academy Signum Yearbook
On September 6, 1960, Immaculata Academy's third school year opened with 440 pupils and ninth grade female students from feeder parishes Gesu Church - Miami, Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) - Coral Gables, Sts. Peter and Paul Church - Miami, St. Michael the Archangel Church - Miami, Church of the Epiphany - South Miami, St. Brendan's Church - Miami, Holy Rosary Church - Perrine, and St. Hugh's Church - Coconut Grove (Miami). Rev. Robert Reardon was appointed supervising principal.
On September 11, 1960, Hurricane Donna hit the school and convent with up to 128 miles (206 km)-an-hour winds and 11 to 13 feet (4 m) waves from Biscayne Bay. When the school was closed for cleanup, blue crabs were found on the second floor of the classroom building, where school books stored in open hallway lockers were damaged and then replaced.
Source: Nancy Foye-Cox, ILS 1964 Classmate's oral history
On September 28, Sister Mary Bernadette, SSJ held the first meeting of the Immaculata Drama Club.
On November 14, 1960, the Immaculata Academy student body marched en masse to Rickenbacker Causeway to greet U.S. President-elect John F. Kennedy, who was enroute to a historical meeting with Vice President Richard Nixon on Key Biscayne. A Christmas pageant was presented by the school in December. The Christmas Formal dance was sponsored by the Immaculata Parent's Auxiliary. During the winter of 1960-1961, the first student Red Cross chapter was formed.
Source: Journal of Sister Mary Alberta Stark, SSJ and 1961 Immaculata Academy Signum Yearbook
On December 26, 1960, when a dozen Cuban refugee children traveled from Havana, Cuba Airport to Miami International Airport, marked the beginning of "Operation Pedro Pan." Rev. Bryan O. Walsh –director of the Diocese of Miami Catholic Services, helped 14,048 children find temporary homes throughout the U.S. in makeshift camps, orphanages, foster homes and delinquent facilities. Many were never reunited with their families. Ultimately 7,000 children relocated without their parents to Dade County, Florida over a 22-month period. On December 30, 1960 ILS classmate Hilda Inclán arrived from Cuba with her two sisters and a friend.
On February 14, 1961, the ILS Junior class sponsored "The Heart of Fashion" show.
Sources: Journal of Sister Mary Alberta Stark, SSJ and the 1960-1964 Immaculata Academy "Signum" yearbooks and "Corona" student newspaper editions.
To avoid persecution in France, 70 La Salle Christian Brothers were sent to Canada. On September 10, 1905, 11 Brothers arrived in Cuba and were well received by the Cuba's president and the Bishop of Havana. Immediately they opened two new schools in Havana. Within 56 years, they had opened 23 schools and one university in Cuba. Their schools were available to all children regardless of income, status or race.
In 1959, the Communist regime forced students to join the militia. On May 1, 1961, Cuban prime minister Castro decreed the nationalization of all 350 private schools. Churches were also closed, and all priests and religious, as well as the Christian Brothers, were expelled from Cuba.
During the first two years of the Cuban revolution, many Catholic students were sent to prison and were soon joined by many priests and Brothers. They were tortured on a daily basis at the infamous La Cabana prison. They agonized and prayed nightly as they heard students yell "Viva Cristo Rey" before being shot by a firing squad at the Paredon.
On May 25, 1961, 109 Brothers of the Christian Schools - Christian Brothers, arrived at Miami International Airport on a Pan American World Airways flight, which was chartered by the Scoppeta-Arca family. They came to America, because Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro closed all Catholic churches, convents, and schools, and expelled all priests and religious orders. Thousands of their former students, who had fled Cuba earlier, were there to greet them. A few days later, six former students (Eduardo R. Arellano de Cardenas, Jose M. Arellano de Cardenas, Bienvenido “Benny” Benach Costales, Oscar Bustill Guas, Nestor Machado Lopez-Munoz, and Eduardo Sanchez Rionda) visited the Brothers at the Everglades Hotel in downtown Miami and resolved to assist them in establishing another LaSalle school in Miami.
These student co-founders of LaSalle High School asked the community for help raising funds and gathering clothing for the Brothers. They met with Bishop Coleman Carroll and Rev. Bryan Walsh, who both agreed to fund a school for the Christian Brothers. The decision was prompt and swift; the school was built in less than six months on the same site as Immaculata Academy. The bishop arranged for the schools to share certain school facilities. Meanwhile, other Christian Brother schools in New York and Pennsylvania sent Brothers to set the curriculum and work with the Cuban Christian Brothers.
On June 3, 1961, 72 Immaculata Academy seniors received diplomas from Bishop Carroll at Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables.
On September 5, 1961, Immaculata Academy opened with 490 students and 20 faculty members (10 religious and 10 lay teachers). For the first time, the Immaculata student body had 6 African-American students.
1964 Classmate Antonia "Toni" Williams was the first African-American student to enroll at Immaculata Academy. This was nearly 10 years before Federal Judge E. Clyde Atkins ordered all Dade County schools to be racially integrated by September on January 22, 1970. Also, Cuban refugee girls soon become Immaculata classmates and were paired with Immaculata students to learn English. Basic Spanish is taught to all students over the school intercom.
Source: 1964 ILS Classmate Toni Williams-Gary's oral history
Once again, the Sisters of St. Joseph welcomed diverse students to the school as had always been their tradition in America. Although the U.S. Supreme Court 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education made segregated schools illegal, in 1964 only 2% of public schools nation-wide were racially integrated.
On September 11, 1961, LaSalle High School was officially founded by Bishop Coleman F. Carroll under the direction of the District of Cuba of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (the Christian Brothers). LaSalle opened its doors for the first time in late September with 260 students (grades 7 through 12) with a faculty of 13 Christian Brothers. The majority of students were Cuban refugees. Two American brothers assisted the faculty, and Brother Benjamin Roque, FSC became LaSalle’s first principal.
Miami parishes served by Immaculata and LaSalle were: Gesu, St. Michael the Archangel, Sts. Peter and Paul, and St. Dominic - Miami; Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) - Coral Gables; St. Hugh - Coconut Grove (Miami); Church of the Epiphany and St. Thomas the Apostle - South Miami; Our Lady of the “Holy Rosary” – Perrine; Sacred Heart - Homestead; St. Brendan and St. Timothy - West Miami; and St. Agnes – Key Biscayne.
On December 2, 1961, Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro announced he was a Communist. On December 17, the Immaculata Glee Club presented a Christmas concert – “The Gift,” based on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet, under the direction of Sister Mary Josepha Butterfield, SSJ.
In the Spring of 1962, Immaculata and LaSalle presented their first joint student production, the senior class play - “The Sound of Music.” In April, the Immaculata Chorus under the direction of Sister Butterfield, SSJ, presented a Spring Concert - “So Proudly We Sing.”
The concert was recorded on a 33 1/3 LP record album and sold as a fundraiser.
On May 31, 1962 for the first time, 85 Immaculata and 30 LaSalle seniors graduated together at Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables. These seniors were LaSalle’s first graduates in America.
Sources: Jose Arellano, 1961 LaSalle classmate and school co-founder's oral history and 1961 and 1962 Signum student yearbooks and Corona student newspaper editions.
Members of the first LaSalle Royal's football team were: Nick Aguirre, Gaston Arellano, Norman Asmar, Tio Babun, Clement Bezold, Leonard Caraballo, Steve Carruthers, Wilfredo Casanova, ?, Armando Chapelli, Richard Cialona, Juan Cosio, Ramon Diaz, Emilio Dieguez, Peter Dunn, Robert Espin, Jose Gonzalez, Silvano Gonzalez, Nelson Hernandez, Robert Koziol, John LaPlant, Joaquin Leon, Bill Maro, Jack Maro, Luis Martinez, Gerard Maucci, Harley Miller, Gregory Morris, Frank Murray, Robert Nunez, Rafael Parracia, Manuel Pereira, Timothy Quinn, Blas Rodriguez, George Rodriguez, Felipe Sanchez, Ernesto Vidal, and George Wehby. Van Parsons and Daniel Coughlin were the first football coaches.
Members of the first LaSalle cheerleaders squad were: Kathleen Brick, Ellen Byrnes, Karen Due, Silvia Fernandez, Anna George, Karen Kawas, M. Kathryn “Kitty” Kleyla (Captain), Marie McCall, Mary Rice, Lynn Richardson, Ruth Rohan, Teresa Russell, Rachel Schneider, and Julia Sheeran. Roseann Rohan was a junior cheerleader.
On April 21, 1963, the Immaculata Glee Club, under Sister Butterfield's direction, presented its annual Spring concert, “From Bach to Bernstein.” On May 27, LaSalle Men’s Athletic Association sponsored the First Annual Athletic Awards Night in the school cafetorium. On June 2, 126 Immaculata and 58 LaSalle seniors graduated from Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables, Florida.
On September 3, 1963, ILS enrollment was 615.
On September 13, 1963, student officers were elected for LaSalle student council: Bob Koziol – president, Roberto Espin – vice president, Luis Alvarez – recording secretary, Emilio Dieguez – corresponding secretary, and Francisco Miro – treasurer. Immaculata student council officers elected: Julia Sheeran – president; and other officers: Nellita Moore, Sandra Page, and Patrice Hurd. Immaculata senior class officers elected: Kathleen “Kathy” Netter – president, Anna George - vice president, Paula Bell – secretary, and Antonia “Toni” Williams – treasurer. LaSalle senior class officers: Gregory Lucas, Rene Diaz, Jorge “George” Pino, and Ramon “Kiki” Diaz.
On February 4, 1964, Bishop Caroll dedicated the new Immaculata-LaSalle Science Building. On February 7 and 8, the 1964 Senior Class play - “The Peace Corps” was performed in the cafetorium.
The student cast was Luly Alcebo, Carlos Arauz, Fernando Aimandi, Clement Bezold, Kathy Brick, Ed Brownrigg, Carlos Davila, Karen Due, Ronnie Fayad, Silvia Fernandez, Arlene Frank, Karen Kawas, Connie Love, Barbara Lyden, Margarita Mancheno, Vicky Matthews, Louis McNamara, Nellita Moore, Vicky Pando, Priscilla Schepis, James Skelton, Felicia Smith (also student director), Kathleen Sprowl, and Patricia Wolf. Faculty directors were Sister Mary Maurice, SSJ and Brother Gordian Ronan, FSC.
On April 24, 1964, the ILS Junior/Senior Prom was held at the DuPont Plaza Hotel in downtown Miami -the first prom to be held off campus. On April 26, ILS Spring Band and Choral Concert was held. On May 31, Immaculata and LaSalle seniors attended a Baccalaureate Mass at St. Hugh’s Church in Coconut Grove. On June 1, 117 Immaculata seniors graduated with LaSalle and Christopher Columbus High Schools at Miami Beach Auditorium. It is the last time Immaculata and LaSalle seniors will wear separate class rings. These graduating seniors, most of whom were born in 1946, are the first of the post-war “Baby Boomer” generation to graduate from high school.
Sources: 1962 - 1964 ILS Signum student yearbooks and Corona student newspaper editions and sports, concert, and theater programs.
In May 1966, ILS Student Council president Marianne Carpentieri and Senior Class president Natalie Folta succeeded in having a traffic light installed on Bayshore Drive - a dangerous traffic intersection at the entrance to the school. This project was the 1966 Class gift to ILS. After attending many City of Miami Commission meetings, the traffic light was finally installed one week after their graduation.
Source: Maria Restrepo Forte, ILS 1966 Classmate's oral history.
On May 29, 1966, 124 Immaculata seniors and 63 LaSalle seniors attended a Baccalaureate Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Miami, and graduated with Christopher Columbus’ Seniors at Dade County Auditorium. The address to the graduates was given by Rt. Rev. Theodore E. McCrick - president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and Bishop Coleman F. Carroll of Miami presented the Special Awards.
On May 24, 1972, the Pieta sculpture was removed from the Immaculata Academy seawall on Biscayne Bay to Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery to make room for the Shrine of Cuban patron Our Lady of Charity. The official reason given for moving the sculpture was “because salt air produced some green ‘cancers’ on the bronze sculpture."
Source: "Four-ton bronze pieta finds new home" by Marilin A. Moore, MIAMI NEWS, March 8, 1983
In June, Sister Marie Therese Everard, SSJ departed ILS. Sister Everard was the last Sisters of St. Joseph religious to serve in the Immaculata-LaSalle administration as dean of Student Affairs.
In January 1974, the Christian Brothers left Immaculata-LaSalle High School.
In June 1981, Sister Elizabeth Worley, SSJ was the last Sisters of St. Joseph religious to leave Immaculata-LaSalle High School when the Teresian Association took over school administration.
The last school yearbook to display the name Immaculata-LaSalle was the 1981-1982 Signum yearbook.
In 1911, St. Pedro Poveda opened a Pedagogical Academy in Gijón (Asturias) for all teachers and, concerned as he is with the promotion of women, whose importance and incidence in society he perceives, he also opens a Women’s Academy for those ladies studying to become teachers. These constitute the beginning of what later on will become the Teresian Association. In 1924, Pope Pius XI approves the Teresian Association as an international Pious Union of The Faithful. Its aim is to invite men and women to work for a social and human transformation, in accordance with Gospel values, from the platform of their own professions, especially those related to the fields of education and culture.
Teresian Association members are involved in education and research, social work, family ministry, pastoral work, social programmes, and civil service. The Association is engaged in different educational, socio-cultural and humanitarian endeavours and is present in 30 countries, with thousands of members and collaborators.
During the 1982-1983 school year, the Teresian Association dropped “Immaculata” from the school’s name. The Class of 1983-1984 were the last class to wear an Immaculata-LaSalle High School class ring.
On March 7, 1983, the Pieta sculpture was moved from Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery to the Archdiocese of Miami Pastoral Center’s Garden of Memories, where it remains.
In June 1985, the Salesian Order of St. John Bosco assumed administration of LaSalle High School under the direction of Rev. Frank Wolfram, SDB, as principal Rosemary Kamke departed the school.
, or Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, are the sister order of the Salesians of Don Bosco. They were founded by Saint Maria Mazzarello in 1872 to work alongside Saint Don Bosco in his teaching projects in Turin and continue to be a teaching order worldwide. On August 5, 1872 in Mornese, Alessandria, Italy, the first Daughters of Mary Help of Christians gathered with Don Bosco and Msgr. Joseph Sciandra, the Bishop of Acqui, to celebrate their admission to the novitiate and the first professions. On that day St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello was also elected the first superior and given the title of “vicar”.
A year later their first boarding school and primary school was recognized by the educational authorities of Castelletto d’Orba. On October 8, 1874, the Salesian Sisters were able to open their first house in Borgo San Martino. They carried on the tradition of the Salesian Oratory (a place where young people could gather to enjoy themselves, learn, and grow in their faith, safe from harm), ran workshops to educated young women to help them to be self-sufficient, and taught. The work of the Salesians Sisters was not limited to a schoolroom as they participated in social justice works and teaching trades to young women and girls. St. Mary Mazzarello and her first companions were able to profess their perpetual vows, after studying with the Sisters of St Anne for their religious formation, on August 28, 1875 in the presence of Don Bosco.
After many years of revision, discussion and consultation, St. Don Bosco was able to give to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians the first printed version of their Constitutions on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1878. In 1881, Mother Mazzarello took ill and died on May 14, at age 44. In her stead were left 26 houses and 166 Sisters. Mary Help of Christians saw to it that her Institute grew, and today the order numbers more than 15,000 members in 89 different countries, and on five continents.
Had it not been for notable Lasalle graduate Christina Quintana, the funds for the renovation would have never been accumulated.
On April 24, 2004, the LaSalle High School Alumni Association inducted the following charter members into the school's Hall of Fame: 1964 ILS classmate Antonia “Toni” Williams-Gary and 1962 ILS classmates and LaSalle student founders Eduardo R. Arellano de Cardenas, Jose M. Arellano de Cardenas, Bienvenido “Benny” Benach Costales, Oscar Bustill Guas, Nestor Machado Lopez-Munoz, and Eduardo Sanchez Rionda. Also inducted were former ILS faculty members Sister Mary Josepha Butterfield, SSJ, Sister Elizabeth Worley, SSJ, Brother Malachy Broderick, FSC, and Brother Antonio Ramon, FSC.
The 2005 hurricane season devastated the school's campus, which suffered extensive damage. The school cafetorium needed to be reconstructed. A tent was installed on the school property and used as a cafeteria until the reconstruction was completed. Recovery efforts were hastened by the assistance of students, faculty and alumni in the clean-up process.
On February 26, 2006, 1966 ILS classmates Marianne Carpentieri Donnell and Maria Restrepo Forte met with LaSalle High School principal - Sister Patricia Roche, FMA to express their concerns and disappointment over the decision to drop "Immaculata" from the school’s name. Sister Roche considered allowing the original school building to be named Immaculata Hall and proposed that a small garden area be turned over to Immaculata graduates as a memorial area for Immaculata. On April 29, Principal Roche issued a declaration naming the original school building Immaculata Hall during the 1966 Class reunion.
Source: Nancy Foye-Cox - ILS 1964 Classmate's Oral History
In 2006 or 2007, 1966 ILS classmate Maria Restropo Forte joined the LaSalle Alumni Association Board, and the Alumni Association subsequently changed its name to the Immaculata-LaSalle High School Alumni Association. Summer of 2007 Gaston Arellano, son of Jose Maria Arellano, Founding member of the class of 1962 joined the Alumni Board of Directors.
On June 1, 2007, LaSalle principal, Sr. Pat, officially solicited support from ILS alumni to restore the name "Immaculata" to LaSalle High School in commemoration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the founding of Immaculata Academy on September 1, 1958. On June 8, Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora sent a letter to Sister Roche granting her request to restore “Immaculata” to the school’s name. 2007 marked the 45th anniversary of the founding of Immaculata-LaSalle High School. 2006 marked the 45th anniversary of LaSalle High School's founding in Miami, Florida. After nearly 25 years, the name Immaculata was officially restored to the school's name on October 20, 2007 during the school's 50th Anniversary celebration.
Tuition fee for 2009-2010 is $8,100.
La Salle High School is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Vizcaya Station.
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
, Roman Catholic high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami
The Archdiocese of Miami is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America. Its ecclesiastic territory includes Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties in the U.S. state of Florida. The archdiocese is the metropolitan see for the Ecclesiastical Province of Miami,...
and located between Mercy Hospital and Vizcaya on South Bayshore Drive.
The school was officially founded as Immaculata Academy, a Roman Catholic college preparatory school for girls, on September 1, 1958. The Sisters of St. Joseph Congregation
Sisters of St. Joseph
The title Sisters of St. Joseph applies to several Roman Catholic religious congregations of women. The largest and oldest of these was founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France...
of St. Augustine FL were the school's founding religious order.
Immaculata Academy
On November 5, 1945, Bishop Joseph P. HurleyJoseph Patrick Hurley
Joseph Patrick Hurley was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of St. Augustine from 1940 until his death in 1967. He also held diplomatic posts in Europe and Asia....
of the Diocese of St. Augustine purchased 130 of the original 160 acre (0.6474976 km²), 68 acres (275,186.5 m²) on the Bayside and 61 acres (246,858.5 m²), opposite in the pineland of James Deering’s Vizcaya
Villa Vizcaya
Vizcaya, now named the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida...
estate, from Deering's heirs.
In 1950, Mercy Hospital
Mercy Hospital (Miami)
Mercy Hospital is a 473-bed acute care U.S. hospital located in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida. It is Miami-Dade County’s only Catholic hospital and is a recipient of the MAGNET award for nursing excellence....
was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph Congregation
Sisters of St. Joseph
The title Sisters of St. Joseph applies to several Roman Catholic religious congregations of women. The largest and oldest of these was founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France...
of St. Augustine to serve the booming post-World War II population.
On August 9, 1958 Sister Mary Damian, SSJ – Immaculata Academy community superior, and Sister Marie de Lourdes Ortagus, SSJ – Immaculata Academy principal, arrived at Mercy Hospital. Immaculata Academy was built adjacent to Mercy Hospital facing the shores of Biscayne Bay.
A few days later on August 13, 1958, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Miami was created, including 16 southeastern Florida counties, 51 parishes, 81 priests and 185,000 Catholics. The rest of the counties remained part of the Diocese of St. Augustine. On August 15, Sisters Mary Monica, St. George, and Mary Martha, SSJ arrived at Mercy Hospital, where they shared five rooms within the hospital convent.
Between August 26 and 28, the first Immaculata Academy students - 138 registered for 10th through 12th grades at Mercy Hospital. On August 31, Rev. Thomas Anglim - Immaculata Academy president, conducted the first faculty meeting. Four lay teachers completed the faculty: Mrs. Hortensia San Juan, Mrs. Frank Boscia, Mrs. Frank Kirby, and Mrs. Wilma Pool Knight, who had been at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Mrs. Knight continued to teach Biology and Physical Education at the school for 17 years. Mrs. Knight had also taught Home Economics and Physical Education at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Miami. The school uniform chosen by the faculty was a skirt and blouse of a beige drip-dry material, saddle oxfords, along with a dark brown cardigan for winter months.
On September 1, Immaculata Academy was co-founded by Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley of the Diocese of St. Augustine and Rev. Mother Anna Maria, SSJ. The school name "Immaculata" was chosen to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of her Immaculate Conception. The school opened in the middle of the modern American Civil Rights movement and during the emerging of the modern feminist movement.
Ivan Meštrović
Ivan Meštrovic
Ivan Meštrović was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor and architect born in Vrpolje, Croatia...
’s Pieta notable sculpture arrived in Miami the same day and was unceremoniously installed facing Biscayne Bay in front of the Immaculata classroom building. When the Diocese of Miami was carved out of the Diocese of St. Augustine, the monument to modern martyrs of Communism, as envisioned and planned by Archbishop Hurley, was never completed.
On September 2, 1958, Immaculata Academy opened its doors for the first time with 153 students. Only three classrooms were ready. While the rest of the school was still under construction, classes were held on half-day session. Because the cafetorium was not completed, students had to use a large classroom on the first floor for cold lunches. (School buildings were to be finished by Christmas; the painters were on strike.) On September 15, full-day classes began. On November 28, the school held its first dance - the Sophomore Harvest Hop, in the newly completed cafetorium, and in December the first Christmas Formal dance took place there. On December 5, Mrs. Mable Franzen and Mrs. J. H. Brummitt became the first cafeteria staff hired. On December 17, the first Christmas pageant was presented.
On January 28, 1959, Rev. Thomas L. McDermott became the second Immaculata Academy president. On March 14, Immaculata community religious moved into their school convent. On May 1, the first student members were inducted into the Immaculata Chapter of the National Honor Society. On June 4, Immaculata’s first graduation class of 26 students received diplomas at the Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables, Florida. On August 15, Sister Marie de Lourdes Ortagus, SSJ was appointed Immaculata convent superior, replacing Sister Mary Damian, SSJ.
In September 1960, Charles Belanger was appointed the school’s first choir director. Freshman class officers elected that year were: Annette Flink – president, Rita Boerger – vice president, Kathy Netter – secretary, and Barbara Lyden – treasurer. On September 8, Immaculata Academy opened for its second school year with 285 pupils, including St. Theresa school’s ninth graders. 1959 was the first year ninth grade students attended the school. Student officers were: Claire Duffy - student body president, Arlene D'Angelo -Senior class president, Christina Montana - Senior class vice president, Ruth Doyle - Senior class secretary, and Veronica Langley - Senior class treasurer. Judith McClesky, member of the Class of 1959, composed the words for the Immaculata Alma Mater. On June 3, 1960, Immaculata Academy graduated 49 seniors from Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Miami.
Sources: Journal of Sister Mary Alberta Stark, SSJ and 1961 Immaculata Academy Signum Yearbook
On September 6, 1960, Immaculata Academy's third school year opened with 440 pupils and ninth grade female students from feeder parishes Gesu Church - Miami, Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) - Coral Gables, Sts. Peter and Paul Church - Miami, St. Michael the Archangel Church - Miami, Church of the Epiphany - South Miami, St. Brendan's Church - Miami, Holy Rosary Church - Perrine, and St. Hugh's Church - Coconut Grove (Miami). Rev. Robert Reardon was appointed supervising principal.
On September 11, 1960, Hurricane Donna hit the school and convent with up to 128 miles (206 km)-an-hour winds and 11 to 13 feet (4 m) waves from Biscayne Bay. When the school was closed for cleanup, blue crabs were found on the second floor of the classroom building, where school books stored in open hallway lockers were damaged and then replaced.
Source: Nancy Foye-Cox, ILS 1964 Classmate's oral history
On September 28, Sister Mary Bernadette, SSJ held the first meeting of the Immaculata Drama Club.
On November 14, 1960, the Immaculata Academy student body marched en masse to Rickenbacker Causeway to greet U.S. President-elect John F. Kennedy, who was enroute to a historical meeting with Vice President Richard Nixon on Key Biscayne. A Christmas pageant was presented by the school in December. The Christmas Formal dance was sponsored by the Immaculata Parent's Auxiliary. During the winter of 1960-1961, the first student Red Cross chapter was formed.
Source: Journal of Sister Mary Alberta Stark, SSJ and 1961 Immaculata Academy Signum Yearbook
On December 26, 1960, when a dozen Cuban refugee children traveled from Havana, Cuba Airport to Miami International Airport, marked the beginning of "Operation Pedro Pan." Rev. Bryan O. Walsh –director of the Diocese of Miami Catholic Services, helped 14,048 children find temporary homes throughout the U.S. in makeshift camps, orphanages, foster homes and delinquent facilities. Many were never reunited with their families. Ultimately 7,000 children relocated without their parents to Dade County, Florida over a 22-month period. On December 30, 1960 ILS classmate Hilda Inclán arrived from Cuba with her two sisters and a friend.
On February 14, 1961, the ILS Junior class sponsored "The Heart of Fashion" show.
Sources: Journal of Sister Mary Alberta Stark, SSJ and the 1960-1964 Immaculata Academy "Signum" yearbooks and "Corona" student newspaper editions.
Christian Brothers (Brothers of the Christian Schools)
On April 30, 1651, St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719) was born to a family of wealth in Reims, France. At age 27, La Salle was ordained a priest after renouncing his family's fortune. He received his doctorate in theology a few years later. LaSalle founded the order in 1680 with the mission of teaching poor boys. Found literally in every part of the world, La Salle founded a teaching order known as the Brothers of the Christian Schools to instruct teachers and create schools for delinquent children. He also founded vocational schools and secondary schools and implemented the use of modern languages, arts and sciences. La Salle dedicated his life to building and developing quality schools throughout France. After his death in 1719, he was canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo XIII.To avoid persecution in France, 70 La Salle Christian Brothers were sent to Canada. On September 10, 1905, 11 Brothers arrived in Cuba and were well received by the Cuba's president and the Bishop of Havana. Immediately they opened two new schools in Havana. Within 56 years, they had opened 23 schools and one university in Cuba. Their schools were available to all children regardless of income, status or race.
In 1959, the Communist regime forced students to join the militia. On May 1, 1961, Cuban prime minister Castro decreed the nationalization of all 350 private schools. Churches were also closed, and all priests and religious, as well as the Christian Brothers, were expelled from Cuba.
During the first two years of the Cuban revolution, many Catholic students were sent to prison and were soon joined by many priests and Brothers. They were tortured on a daily basis at the infamous La Cabana prison. They agonized and prayed nightly as they heard students yell "Viva Cristo Rey" before being shot by a firing squad at the Paredon.
On May 25, 1961, 109 Brothers of the Christian Schools - Christian Brothers, arrived at Miami International Airport on a Pan American World Airways flight, which was chartered by the Scoppeta-Arca family. They came to America, because Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro closed all Catholic churches, convents, and schools, and expelled all priests and religious orders. Thousands of their former students, who had fled Cuba earlier, were there to greet them. A few days later, six former students (Eduardo R. Arellano de Cardenas, Jose M. Arellano de Cardenas, Bienvenido “Benny” Benach Costales, Oscar Bustill Guas, Nestor Machado Lopez-Munoz, and Eduardo Sanchez Rionda) visited the Brothers at the Everglades Hotel in downtown Miami and resolved to assist them in establishing another LaSalle school in Miami.
These student co-founders of LaSalle High School asked the community for help raising funds and gathering clothing for the Brothers. They met with Bishop Coleman Carroll and Rev. Bryan Walsh, who both agreed to fund a school for the Christian Brothers. The decision was prompt and swift; the school was built in less than six months on the same site as Immaculata Academy. The bishop arranged for the schools to share certain school facilities. Meanwhile, other Christian Brother schools in New York and Pennsylvania sent Brothers to set the curriculum and work with the Cuban Christian Brothers.
LaSalle High School
LaSalle High School is named for St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle - founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (the Christian Brothers) and universal patron of teachers. The Christian Brothers is the largest group of men in the Roman Catholic Church devoted exclusively to teaching. In the United States, they mainly teach and administer elementary and high schools.On June 3, 1961, 72 Immaculata Academy seniors received diplomas from Bishop Carroll at Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables.
On September 5, 1961, Immaculata Academy opened with 490 students and 20 faculty members (10 religious and 10 lay teachers). For the first time, the Immaculata student body had 6 African-American students.
1964 Classmate Antonia "Toni" Williams was the first African-American student to enroll at Immaculata Academy. This was nearly 10 years before Federal Judge E. Clyde Atkins ordered all Dade County schools to be racially integrated by September on January 22, 1970. Also, Cuban refugee girls soon become Immaculata classmates and were paired with Immaculata students to learn English. Basic Spanish is taught to all students over the school intercom.
Source: 1964 ILS Classmate Toni Williams-Gary's oral history
Once again, the Sisters of St. Joseph welcomed diverse students to the school as had always been their tradition in America. Although the U.S. Supreme Court 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education made segregated schools illegal, in 1964 only 2% of public schools nation-wide were racially integrated.
On September 11, 1961, LaSalle High School was officially founded by Bishop Coleman F. Carroll under the direction of the District of Cuba of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (the Christian Brothers). LaSalle opened its doors for the first time in late September with 260 students (grades 7 through 12) with a faculty of 13 Christian Brothers. The majority of students were Cuban refugees. Two American brothers assisted the faculty, and Brother Benjamin Roque, FSC became LaSalle’s first principal.
Miami parishes served by Immaculata and LaSalle were: Gesu, St. Michael the Archangel, Sts. Peter and Paul, and St. Dominic - Miami; Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) - Coral Gables; St. Hugh - Coconut Grove (Miami); Church of the Epiphany and St. Thomas the Apostle - South Miami; Our Lady of the “Holy Rosary” – Perrine; Sacred Heart - Homestead; St. Brendan and St. Timothy - West Miami; and St. Agnes – Key Biscayne.
On December 2, 1961, Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro announced he was a Communist. On December 17, the Immaculata Glee Club presented a Christmas concert – “The Gift,” based on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet, under the direction of Sister Mary Josepha Butterfield, SSJ.
In the Spring of 1962, Immaculata and LaSalle presented their first joint student production, the senior class play - “The Sound of Music.” In April, the Immaculata Chorus under the direction of Sister Butterfield, SSJ, presented a Spring Concert - “So Proudly We Sing.”
The concert was recorded on a 33 1/3 LP record album and sold as a fundraiser.
On May 31, 1962 for the first time, 85 Immaculata and 30 LaSalle seniors graduated together at Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables. These seniors were LaSalle’s first graduates in America.
Sources: Jose Arellano, 1961 LaSalle classmate and school co-founder's oral history and 1961 and 1962 Signum student yearbooks and Corona student newspaper editions.
Immaculata-LaSalle High School
In September 1962, LaSalle High School was placed under the Christian Brothers of the Baltimore District, and Brother Patrick Ellis, FSC became the school's second principal. Along with Immaculata Academy, LaSalle formed a co-institutional school, which shared facilities but not faculties – Immaculata-LaSalle High School. Rev. Claude E. Brubaker was ILS' first supervising principal. On September 4 when Immaculata opened with 570 students and 25 teachers, there were three portable buildings that provided six extra classrooms. On September 29, 1962, the LaSalle Royals football team played their first game at 3:45 PM at Central Stadium (now a part of Florida International University) against Florida Air Academy of Melbourne, Florida. The Air Academy won that game 6-0.Members of the first LaSalle Royal's football team were: Nick Aguirre, Gaston Arellano, Norman Asmar, Tio Babun, Clement Bezold, Leonard Caraballo, Steve Carruthers, Wilfredo Casanova, ?, Armando Chapelli, Richard Cialona, Juan Cosio, Ramon Diaz, Emilio Dieguez, Peter Dunn, Robert Espin, Jose Gonzalez, Silvano Gonzalez, Nelson Hernandez, Robert Koziol, John LaPlant, Joaquin Leon, Bill Maro, Jack Maro, Luis Martinez, Gerard Maucci, Harley Miller, Gregory Morris, Frank Murray, Robert Nunez, Rafael Parracia, Manuel Pereira, Timothy Quinn, Blas Rodriguez, George Rodriguez, Felipe Sanchez, Ernesto Vidal, and George Wehby. Van Parsons and Daniel Coughlin were the first football coaches.
Members of the first LaSalle cheerleaders squad were: Kathleen Brick, Ellen Byrnes, Karen Due, Silvia Fernandez, Anna George, Karen Kawas, M. Kathryn “Kitty” Kleyla (Captain), Marie McCall, Mary Rice, Lynn Richardson, Ruth Rohan, Teresa Russell, Rachel Schneider, and Julia Sheeran. Roseann Rohan was a junior cheerleader.
On April 21, 1963, the Immaculata Glee Club, under Sister Butterfield's direction, presented its annual Spring concert, “From Bach to Bernstein.” On May 27, LaSalle Men’s Athletic Association sponsored the First Annual Athletic Awards Night in the school cafetorium. On June 2, 126 Immaculata and 58 LaSalle seniors graduated from Church of the Little Flower (St. Theresa) in Coral Gables, Florida.
On September 3, 1963, ILS enrollment was 615.
On September 13, 1963, student officers were elected for LaSalle student council: Bob Koziol – president, Roberto Espin – vice president, Luis Alvarez – recording secretary, Emilio Dieguez – corresponding secretary, and Francisco Miro – treasurer. Immaculata student council officers elected: Julia Sheeran – president; and other officers: Nellita Moore, Sandra Page, and Patrice Hurd. Immaculata senior class officers elected: Kathleen “Kathy” Netter – president, Anna George - vice president, Paula Bell – secretary, and Antonia “Toni” Williams – treasurer. LaSalle senior class officers: Gregory Lucas, Rene Diaz, Jorge “George” Pino, and Ramon “Kiki” Diaz.
On February 4, 1964, Bishop Caroll dedicated the new Immaculata-LaSalle Science Building. On February 7 and 8, the 1964 Senior Class play - “The Peace Corps” was performed in the cafetorium.
The student cast was Luly Alcebo, Carlos Arauz, Fernando Aimandi, Clement Bezold, Kathy Brick, Ed Brownrigg, Carlos Davila, Karen Due, Ronnie Fayad, Silvia Fernandez, Arlene Frank, Karen Kawas, Connie Love, Barbara Lyden, Margarita Mancheno, Vicky Matthews, Louis McNamara, Nellita Moore, Vicky Pando, Priscilla Schepis, James Skelton, Felicia Smith (also student director), Kathleen Sprowl, and Patricia Wolf. Faculty directors were Sister Mary Maurice, SSJ and Brother Gordian Ronan, FSC.
On April 24, 1964, the ILS Junior/Senior Prom was held at the DuPont Plaza Hotel in downtown Miami -the first prom to be held off campus. On April 26, ILS Spring Band and Choral Concert was held. On May 31, Immaculata and LaSalle seniors attended a Baccalaureate Mass at St. Hugh’s Church in Coconut Grove. On June 1, 117 Immaculata seniors graduated with LaSalle and Christopher Columbus High Schools at Miami Beach Auditorium. It is the last time Immaculata and LaSalle seniors will wear separate class rings. These graduating seniors, most of whom were born in 1946, are the first of the post-war “Baby Boomer” generation to graduate from high school.
Sources: 1962 - 1964 ILS Signum student yearbooks and Corona student newspaper editions and sports, concert, and theater programs.
In May 1966, ILS Student Council president Marianne Carpentieri and Senior Class president Natalie Folta succeeded in having a traffic light installed on Bayshore Drive - a dangerous traffic intersection at the entrance to the school. This project was the 1966 Class gift to ILS. After attending many City of Miami Commission meetings, the traffic light was finally installed one week after their graduation.
Source: Maria Restrepo Forte, ILS 1966 Classmate's oral history.
On May 29, 1966, 124 Immaculata seniors and 63 LaSalle seniors attended a Baccalaureate Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Miami, and graduated with Christopher Columbus’ Seniors at Dade County Auditorium. The address to the graduates was given by Rt. Rev. Theodore E. McCrick - president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and Bishop Coleman F. Carroll of Miami presented the Special Awards.
On May 24, 1972, the Pieta sculpture was removed from the Immaculata Academy seawall on Biscayne Bay to Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery to make room for the Shrine of Cuban patron Our Lady of Charity. The official reason given for moving the sculpture was “because salt air produced some green ‘cancers’ on the bronze sculpture."
Source: "Four-ton bronze pieta finds new home" by Marilin A. Moore, MIAMI NEWS, March 8, 1983
In June, Sister Marie Therese Everard, SSJ departed ILS. Sister Everard was the last Sisters of St. Joseph religious to serve in the Immaculata-LaSalle administration as dean of Student Affairs.
In January 1974, the Christian Brothers left Immaculata-LaSalle High School.
In June 1981, Sister Elizabeth Worley, SSJ was the last Sisters of St. Joseph religious to leave Immaculata-LaSalle High School when the Teresian Association took over school administration.
The last school yearbook to display the name Immaculata-LaSalle was the 1981-1982 Signum yearbook.
Teresian Association
The Teresian Association is an international Catholic lay association of men and women whose objective is the human promotion of individuals and the transformation of unjust structures by means of an education and culture imparted from the platform of Christianity. Its members strive to live in the world “after the style of the first Christians” as its founder St. Pedro Poveda desired.In 1911, St. Pedro Poveda opened a Pedagogical Academy in Gijón (Asturias) for all teachers and, concerned as he is with the promotion of women, whose importance and incidence in society he perceives, he also opens a Women’s Academy for those ladies studying to become teachers. These constitute the beginning of what later on will become the Teresian Association. In 1924, Pope Pius XI approves the Teresian Association as an international Pious Union of The Faithful. Its aim is to invite men and women to work for a social and human transformation, in accordance with Gospel values, from the platform of their own professions, especially those related to the fields of education and culture.
Teresian Association members are involved in education and research, social work, family ministry, pastoral work, social programmes, and civil service. The Association is engaged in different educational, socio-cultural and humanitarian endeavours and is present in 30 countries, with thousands of members and collaborators.
During the 1982-1983 school year, the Teresian Association dropped “Immaculata” from the school’s name. The Class of 1983-1984 were the last class to wear an Immaculata-LaSalle High School class ring.
On March 7, 1983, the Pieta sculpture was moved from Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery to the Archdiocese of Miami Pastoral Center’s Garden of Memories, where it remains.
In June 1985, the Salesian Order of St. John Bosco assumed administration of LaSalle High School under the direction of Rev. Frank Wolfram, SDB, as principal Rosemary Kamke departed the school.
Salesian Sisters
The Salesian Sisters of Don BoscoSalesian Sisters of Don Bosco
The Salesian Sisters of St John Bosco or Daughters of Mary Help of Christians are the sister order of the Salesians of Don Bosco. They were founded by Saint Maria Mazzarello in 1872 to work alongside Saint John Bosco in his teaching projects in Turin and continue to be a teaching order worldwide.On...
, or Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, are the sister order of the Salesians of Don Bosco. They were founded by Saint Maria Mazzarello in 1872 to work alongside Saint Don Bosco in his teaching projects in Turin and continue to be a teaching order worldwide. On August 5, 1872 in Mornese, Alessandria, Italy, the first Daughters of Mary Help of Christians gathered with Don Bosco and Msgr. Joseph Sciandra, the Bishop of Acqui, to celebrate their admission to the novitiate and the first professions. On that day St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello was also elected the first superior and given the title of “vicar”.
A year later their first boarding school and primary school was recognized by the educational authorities of Castelletto d’Orba. On October 8, 1874, the Salesian Sisters were able to open their first house in Borgo San Martino. They carried on the tradition of the Salesian Oratory (a place where young people could gather to enjoy themselves, learn, and grow in their faith, safe from harm), ran workshops to educated young women to help them to be self-sufficient, and taught. The work of the Salesians Sisters was not limited to a schoolroom as they participated in social justice works and teaching trades to young women and girls. St. Mary Mazzarello and her first companions were able to profess their perpetual vows, after studying with the Sisters of St Anne for their religious formation, on August 28, 1875 in the presence of Don Bosco.
After many years of revision, discussion and consultation, St. Don Bosco was able to give to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians the first printed version of their Constitutions on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1878. In 1881, Mother Mazzarello took ill and died on May 14, at age 44. In her stead were left 26 houses and 166 Sisters. Mary Help of Christians saw to it that her Institute grew, and today the order numbers more than 15,000 members in 89 different countries, and on five continents.
Hurricane Andrew
On August 24, 1992 Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida, resulting in 15 deaths, more than 250,000 temporary holmeless, and $20 billion in damages. An additional 25 lives were lost indirectly. Hardly any part of South Florida was unaffeceted and recovery took years. School opened that year to blown-out windows, debris all over campus, cabin cruiser in parking lot, roofs torn and replaced, portables weakened and then removed.Had it not been for notable Lasalle graduate Christina Quintana, the funds for the renovation would have never been accumulated.
Restoring "Immaculata" to LaSalle High School's name
In 2002, the first LaSalle High School Alumni Association was formed. 1964 ILS classmate Armando Chapelli proposed to the LaSalle High School Alumni Association to restore the name Immaculata to the school’s name and to move the Pieta sculpture back to the campus.On April 24, 2004, the LaSalle High School Alumni Association inducted the following charter members into the school's Hall of Fame: 1964 ILS classmate Antonia “Toni” Williams-Gary and 1962 ILS classmates and LaSalle student founders Eduardo R. Arellano de Cardenas, Jose M. Arellano de Cardenas, Bienvenido “Benny” Benach Costales, Oscar Bustill Guas, Nestor Machado Lopez-Munoz, and Eduardo Sanchez Rionda. Also inducted were former ILS faculty members Sister Mary Josepha Butterfield, SSJ, Sister Elizabeth Worley, SSJ, Brother Malachy Broderick, FSC, and Brother Antonio Ramon, FSC.
The 2005 hurricane season devastated the school's campus, which suffered extensive damage. The school cafetorium needed to be reconstructed. A tent was installed on the school property and used as a cafeteria until the reconstruction was completed. Recovery efforts were hastened by the assistance of students, faculty and alumni in the clean-up process.
On February 26, 2006, 1966 ILS classmates Marianne Carpentieri Donnell and Maria Restrepo Forte met with LaSalle High School principal - Sister Patricia Roche, FMA to express their concerns and disappointment over the decision to drop "Immaculata" from the school’s name. Sister Roche considered allowing the original school building to be named Immaculata Hall and proposed that a small garden area be turned over to Immaculata graduates as a memorial area for Immaculata. On April 29, Principal Roche issued a declaration naming the original school building Immaculata Hall during the 1966 Class reunion.
Source: Nancy Foye-Cox - ILS 1964 Classmate's Oral History
In 2006 or 2007, 1966 ILS classmate Maria Restropo Forte joined the LaSalle Alumni Association Board, and the Alumni Association subsequently changed its name to the Immaculata-LaSalle High School Alumni Association. Summer of 2007 Gaston Arellano, son of Jose Maria Arellano, Founding member of the class of 1962 joined the Alumni Board of Directors.
On June 1, 2007, LaSalle principal, Sr. Pat, officially solicited support from ILS alumni to restore the name "Immaculata" to LaSalle High School in commemoration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the founding of Immaculata Academy on September 1, 1958. On June 8, Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora sent a letter to Sister Roche granting her request to restore “Immaculata” to the school’s name. 2007 marked the 45th anniversary of the founding of Immaculata-LaSalle High School. 2006 marked the 45th anniversary of LaSalle High School's founding in Miami, Florida. After nearly 25 years, the name Immaculata was officially restored to the school's name on October 20, 2007 during the school's 50th Anniversary celebration.
Tuition fee for 2009-2010 is $8,100.
La Salle High School is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Vizcaya Station.
Mission statement
"Immaculata-La Salle High School is committed to the highest quality of Catholic education based on the Gospel and the Salesian Preventive System of reason, religion, and loving kindness. Our mission is to provide a student-centered learning environment that prepares all students to realize and apply their abilities and talents in an ever-changing, diverse, global society. We foster in our students a sense of personal responsibility with a lifelong commitment to faith, education, leadership, and service that will make a positive difference in our world."Athletics
- Fall: Cheerleading(N/A), Cross Country(2A), Football(2A), Swimming(2A), Volleyball(2A)
- Winter: Basketball(3A), Soccer(2A)
- Spring: Baseball(3A), Softball(2A), Track & Field(2A), Tennis(2A), Lacrosse(3A)
Notable alumni
- Carlos AlvarezCarlos Alvarez (mayor)Carlos Alvarez is a Cuban American politician, and the former mayor of Miami-Dade County. He was first elected mayor in 2004, and re-elected in 2008. His mayoralty ended in March 2011 after a recall election...
- Mayor of Miami-Dade County - Frank AngonesFrank AngonesFrank Angones is the first Cuban born head of the Florida Bar. Mr. Angones is also the first Hispanic to be elected president of the Dade County Bar Association and the youngest attorney to be elected president of the Cuban-American Bar Association.Mr...
- head of the Florida Bar - Rodney Barreto - Chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Ariana BaroukAriana BaroukAriana Barouk is a tv host, model, singer and actress, who represented Cuba in the seventh edition of the environmentally oriented Miss Earth,International Beauty Pageant....
- Miss Cuba, first to participate in an international beauty pageant in decades. - Luis G. Fernandez, M.D., KHS, FACS, FASAS, FCCP, FCCM, FICS-Brigadier General, Texas Medical Rangers, TXSG /MB Commanding. He is the third commander of the Texas State Guard Medical Brigade, and first Latino / Cuban American to command the brigade.The brigade has been involved in over five major natural disaster deployments including Hurricane Katrina,the worst natural disaster in the history of the continental United States. Fernandez is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery/Family Practice at the University of Texas Health Science Center, and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Medicine and Nursing at the University of Texas at Arlington. He serves as the Chairman, Division of Trauma Surgery/Surgical Critical Care and Chief of the Trauma Surgical Critical Care Unit at Trinity Mother Francis Health System in Tyler, Texas. Dr. Fernandez,along with Dr. Scott H. Norwood,FACS developed the trauma system for North East Texas, covering an area of over 16000 square miles (41,439.8 km²)and nearly 2 million inhabitants.http://www.txsg.state.tx.us/locations/units/units.aspx?regid=tmbhttp://www.txsg.state.tx.us/news/article.aspx?id=20091202http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/196820-overviewhttps://www.trimofran.org/workfiles/pdf/2009traumasymp.pdf
- Tomás RegaladoTomás Regalado (American politician)Tomás Pedro Regalado is a former broadcast journalist and current mayor of Miami, Florida.He served as the news director for Radio Mambi WAQI and as a reporter for Univision...
- Mayor of Miami - Cambize Shahrdar, MD, ABOS, AAOS, AAHKS. Orthopaedic Surgeon in Northwest Louisiana whom introduced the region to anterior hip replacement and to hip resurfacing.
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