Welcome
About Us
La Salle Academy has as its mission the education of young men and women of diverse backgrounds, with a special concern for the working class and the poor, in the tradition of St. John Baptist de La Salle’s ideals of faith, service, and community, in a Catholic college preparatory school.
La Salle Academy demonstrates a concern for the individual student. Each student is provided with the opportunities to recognize and to develop aesthetically, physically, intellectually, emotionally, and morally in a Catholic environment.
The Academy endeavors to provide an academic environment which helps to instill in its students a respect for life-long learning. Students at La Salle Academy are prepared to become responsible citizens of the twenty-first century through the development of the ability to think rationally, logically, and ethically; to communicate effectively, orally and in writing; to process information; and to utilize technology as a tool of learning and decision-making.
Essential to its educational mission is La Salle Academy’s commitment to the religious formation of its students. Through the integration of religious instruction and experience, students deepen their faith in the person of Jesus, and expand their knowledge and appreciation of His message and that of His church. They are helped to understand the biblical imperatives of justice and love in preparing themselves to live as responsible and moral Christians in the church of the 21st century.
La Salle Academy seeks to establish a partnership with families of its students, their first and primary educators. The school strives to create a vital community where its students, coming from varied socioeconomic, ethnic, and family backgrounds, educate one another by mutual understanding and respect, openness of mind in dialogue, and acceptance of the uniqueness and limitations of all. This community fosters growth in the spirit of service with a particular sensitivity to the poor and to victims of prejudice and injustice.
The Academy endeavors to provide an academic environment which helps to instill in its students a respect for life-long learning. Students at La Salle Academy are prepared to become responsible citizens of the twenty-first century through the development of the ability to think rationally, logically, and ethically; to communicate effectively, orally and in writing; to process information; and to utilize technology as a tool of learning and decision-making.
Essential to its educational mission is La Salle Academy’s commitment to the religious formation of its students. Through the integration of religious instruction and experience, students deepen their faith in the person of Jesus, and expand their knowledge and appreciation of His message and that of His church. They are helped to understand the biblical imperatives of justice and love in preparing themselves to live as responsible and moral Christians in the church of the 21st century.
La Salle Academy seeks to establish a partnership with families of its students, their first and primary educators. The school strives to create a vital community where its students, coming from varied socioeconomic, ethnic, and family backgrounds, educate one another by mutual understanding and respect, openness of mind in dialogue, and acceptance of the uniqueness and limitations of all. This community fosters growth in the spirit of service with a particular sensitivity to the poor and to victims of prejudice and injustice.
At a Glance
An independent Catholic co-educational college preparatory school accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Year founded: 1871
Admission is not limited to members of the Roman Catholic faith and the Academy believes that the perspectives of its non-Catholic students enriches the diversity of the Academy and enlivens inter-faith dialogue.
2016 - 2017 Middle School Tuition: $12,800
Interscholastic Athletics: 64 Teams in 18 sports
Dress code: Since the educational process is a formal endeavor, La Salle Academy has a student dress code. This dress code supports the attitude of respect we have for one another. Cleanliness, neatness, sensibility, reasonable modesty, and safety (in the case of shoes) guide the choice of the dress code. Permitted and prohibited clothing and grooming styles are detailed in the Student Handbook, which addresses policies and rules for students.
HISTORY
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Origins
Saint John Baptist de La Salle was born in Rheims, France, in 1651. Quite by happenstance at first, he developed a passion for the education of poor city children. He gradually focused his life on teaching and on developing structures that would carry on this important work. During the period between 1679 and 1685, he founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. As the Rule of the Brothers states, “The Institute is founded for the children of the working classes and the poor who do not have the knowledge or the time to teach their own children.” This principle and purpose and this Institute are alive and well today in Providence, RI.Read More -
Early Years
La Salle Academy had its beginnings in 1871 as an elementary school for boys in downtown Providence. The school served the boys of the Cathedral and Saint John parishes and was staffed by a diocesan priest, a layman, and three De La Salle Christian Brothers. The school became known as the “Brothers’ School” and was renamed La Salle Academy when its status was changed from an elementary school to an academy.Read More -
Growth Years
The early years were ones of happy growth and steady expansion. As the school gained a reputation for its outstanding educational program, the building at the intersection of Broadway and Fountain Street could no longer accommodate the demand. The Bishop of Providence authorized the building of a new school closer to the city limits. The present structure was dedicated on September 21, 1925. The La Salle name was not lost in downtown Providence, however, for the major intersection near the site of the old school is familiar to Rhode Islanders as “La Salle Square.”Read More
The new building saw notable achievement in many areas. The band and drama programs flourished. Athletic programs, especially football, hockey, and track were widely acclaimed. And La Salle began to see numbers of its graduates achieve prominence in the Church, in education, in government, in business, and in the arts. -
Merger and Expansion Years
In 1983 the Bishop of Providence announced a plan which merged La Salle Academy with St. Mary Academy of the Visitation and St. Patrick High School, two all-girls schools. Six years later, in 1989, another significant development occurred: the governance of the school was transferred from the Diocese of Providence to a newly formed, independent, non-profit corporation comprising six De La Salle Christian Brothers, which has full authority over the management and operation of the Academy.Read More
Recent developments have included the establishment of a transition program, for students who need a closely monitored program in the development of academic success; PEGASUS 7/8 Program for gifted seventh and eighth-graders and the matching PEGASUS 9-12 Program for gifted high school students; the McLaughlin Athletic Center (2000); the Brother Michael McKenery Arts Center (2000); and the Shea Science and Student Center (2004).In 1991 the U.S. Department of Education designated La Salle Academy as a Blue Ribbon Exemplary School. -
Back to the Origins
Another recent and notable development has been the strengthening, on the part of the De La Salle Christian Brothers at La Salle Academy and around the world, of the ties to their roots. The Brothers with the faculty and staff at La Salle have actively shared this renewal. Lasallian schools have rediscovered the wisdom and effectiveness of St. La Salle’s approaches to education. And teachers have been invigorated by his sense of purpose, his goodness, and his spirituality.Read More
The true success of La Salle Academy has been the graduates who have contributed to their communities and have remained faithful to the Gospel values of faith, hope, and love: values nurtured, perhaps even acquired, at La Salle. La Salle’s graduates can be found across the globe. They include five bishops, many brothers and priests, a Nobel laureate, Pulitzer Prize winners, an Attorney General of the United States, United States Senators and Representatives, and Governors of the State of Rhode Island. However, the greatest successes of all occur when La Salle reaches the children of the “working classes and the poor,” remaining faithful to the vision of the Founder.
