La Salle Military Academy
| La Salle Military Academy | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Oakdale, New York | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1883 |
| Closed | 2001 |
| Grades | Pre-K-12 |
La Salle Military Academy was a Catholic school with middle school/junior high school and high school divisions located in Oakdale, New York. It closed in 2001, and the school's extensive campus is now owned by St. John's University, New York.
The school was founded by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or "Christian Brothers" (sometimes called the "De La Salle Brothers," having been founded by St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle in France in the 17th century as an organization of Catholic men under vows dedicated to teaching; the term "De La Salle" brothers distinguishes them from the Irish Congregation of Christian Brothers and other, similarly named and purposed groups).
The school was actually founded in Westchester, New York in 1883 as Westchester Institute. Soon thereafter, the school relocated to Clason Point in the Bronx, New York, and was renamed Clason Point Military Academy. In 1926, the school purchased the estate of Frederick Gilbert Bourne, of the Singer sewing machine company, which featured a 110-room mansion, Indian Neck Hall, overlooking Great South Bay, Long Island (the building had been designed by Ernest Flagg).
The Christian Brothers administered the academic program, while the military program was run by the United States Army in close coordination with the Christian Brothers. La Salle was consistently rated in the top ten military high schools in the country, and many of its cadets were nominated and accepted to the country's military academies.
The school had extensive boarding facilities and attracted many sons of the wealthiest Catholic families in the northeastern United States. In the mid-1990s, the school decided to begin admitting girls as well as non-military students.
Alumni include numerous famous people, including Hollywood movie director John Frankenheimer, former New Hampshire Governor and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, two Nicaraguan Presidents, Luis Somoza Debayle and his younger brother, the more notorious dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle[1], and former U.S. Congressman from New York John M. Murphy (1965 graduation speaker). It also had a large New York mafia family patronage, including sons of the Gambino crime family, as well as Alois Pfister Gonzalez, Forbes 100, from Mexico.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Horgan, James J. (1990). Pioneer College: The Centennial History of Saint Leo College, Saint Leo Abbey, and Holy Name Priory. Saint Leo College Press. p 464
