LaSalle High School, also known as LHS, is a private

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 Union Gap, Washington

Union Gap, Washington

Union Gap is a city in Yakima County, Washington, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,047.-History:The city of Union Gap was originally named Yakima and was officially incorporated on November 23, 1883...

. It is the only Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima

Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the central region of the state of Washington in the United States...

. The school prides itself on its commitment to its educational philosophy: "Enter to learn; leave to serve." La Salle High School bases its school on five core values: Inclusive Community, Quality Education, Concern for the Poor and Social Justice, Faith in the Presence of God, and Respect for all Persons. The school's motto, Signum Fidei, is shared with other Lasallian schools along the west coast and in Colorado and New Mexico.

Background

La Salle High School of Yakima is a Lasallian high school, based on the teachings of the Lasallian schools' founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle, who founded the first Lasallian school in Reims, France in 1685.
It opened in 1998 to replace the Catholic high school, Carroll High School, which had closed in the late 1980s. Operated by the Lasallian Brothers, there are currently two working at the school. It has just under 200 students enrolled and attending.

Sports

La Salle sports are perennial powerhouses in their leagues. Since the school was founded in 1998, La Salle has won four team State Championships and many tennis, golf, and track individual State Championships. Home to the La Salle Lightning, La Salle has football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, track, tennis, golf, baseball and softball (fast and slow pitch) teams.

Soccer

La Salle's girls' soccer team has made it to the State Championship five times since the team was founded seven years ago. While a 2B school, the Lightning participated in the 1A State Championship. Their first trip to state, they received fourth place, and after that three consecutive second place wins in the finals.

In the fall of 2008, the 2B District had enough teams to form its own championship. La Salle participated in the 2B State Tournament instead of the 1A State Tournament that fall, and won its first State Championship, taking home first.

Post Season 2008

Saturday, November 1: La Salle Lightning against Bridgeport @ Wenatchee. Ally Hernandez and Savannah Bonny kicked in three goals each. Hernandez's first goal was scored seven seconds into the game. (Final Score: La Salle 6; Bridgeport 0.)

Saturday, November 22: La Salle Lightning against Evergreen at Sumner in the state championship game. The score remained 0-0 at the end of regulation and two 5-minute periods. At the end of the shootout, Chelsea Adkins saved a goal and Julia Kennedy kicked one to end the game and secure the State Championship for La Salle. (Final Score: La Salle 1; Evergreen 0).

Basketball

The La Salle girls basketball team has gone to state multiple times, including two State Titles in the past three years and one second place finish.

March 2009: The La Salle girls basketball finished strong in their final game against White Pass, after a tough close loss to Napavine, a longtime rival. They earned a well-deserved third place.

Student life

La Salle has a very involved student body. There are students who run for positions to represent their class or the school every year. These students uphold the five core values while making high school not only a fun-filled experience but a learning one as well.

ASB

Student body representatives work on events such as the annual Freshman lock-in and spirit related activities like rallies.

Campus Ministry Representatives plan, design, and set up all of LHS's masses and prayer services.

Homecoming

Homecoming week is a tradition that dates back many years ago. Every year, La Salle High School has a Homecoming Week that ends with the Homecoming dance on the upcoming Saturday. Every day of that week, there is a theme that allows students to dress accordingly and raise school spirit. However, Friday of every Homecoming week is always Spirit day, where everyone dresses up completely in blue, silver, and white. Other than Spirit Day, every other day of the week changes from year to year, in order to keep the themes original and fresh.

Layout

There are three buildings and three portable classrooms at La Salle. The third building, The Gamache Science Center, opened in Fall 2009. There is also a small chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

, soccer and football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 fields. There is also a weights room and tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

courts on campus. While La Salle does not have a gym or a stadium, it utilizes the facilities at Holy Family Catholic Church (Queen's Gym).