Two schools, one legacy, celebrate 100 years of history

12th October 2015   ·   0 Comments

By Allana Barefield
Contributing Writer

The walls of St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory School on Magazine Street have seen it all. If they could speak, the school’s walls would tell stories of empowerment, survival, and change. The school has always been located on Magazine Street since 1915. On Sept. 27 the school earned a milestone. It celebrated 100 years of educating students in the city of New Orleans.

“Most often our history is not known or not told, you have to know where you came from to move forward,” said Cheryllyn Branche, the current principal of St. Katharine.

Past and present teachers, alumni, parents, and students celebrated the school’s legacy at an anniversary event in late September. Supporters and well-wishers attended a ribbon cutting and the release of 100 balloons representing each year of the school’s existence, Branche said.

Wanda Rouzan performed at the event by being in the second line of a jazz band. The band marched all around the campus, and then proceeded onto Magazine Street. The hallways of the school were decorated as a trip down memory lane with the school’s yearbooks put up on display, said Keith Doley, a 1968 alumnus of the school, who attended the anniversary event. “This is a place where you make your foundation of your life that transcends into something bigger,” Doley said.

Local public officials also showed up to commemorate the anniversary. Fourth Circuit Court judge Edwin Lombard, Dale N. Atkins, the Orleans Parish civil clerk of court; Judge Piper Griffin of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Attorney Keith Doley and Attorney Shantell Payton spoke at the event and have shown their support for the school over the years, said Branche, the principal.

The private Catholic high school has made a significant impact on the community through educating young women in grades eight through 12, the speakers said. “The whole focus of the school is to make you the best female you can be,” said Griffin, who is a 1980 alumna and chair of the board for the school.

St. Katharine Drexel, who founded the school in 1915, set as her goal to educate African Americans and Native Americans. Her mission was to prepare young girls who would grow into young ladies that have skills and a mindset of being well-rounded, with strong morals, Griffin said.

“I’m not Catholic but the Catholic values of trying to help the community is what I remember,” said Judge Griffin.

The school’s focus has been a strong emphasis in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Branche said, but it has produced graduates that have excelled in other areas like law and politics.

The school also offers dual enrollment with the University of New Orleans, Southern University, Xavier University, and Delgado Community College, Branche added, as an emphasis to ensure students pursue a university education.

“Every school that opens usually comes and goes but this is a school that is a tribute to Katharine Drexel,” said Sister Margaret Mary Friesenhahn, who has taught foreign languages at the school for 29 years. “We offer a high-end education where we produce lawyers and doctors. Our success rate has been higher than ever from having 100-percent graduation rate and college 100-percent acceptance rate,” Friesenhahn said.

In 2014, the school noted that students received a combined total of $6.1 million in scholarships from sources like the prestigious Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to attend colleges and universities across the country. This, says Friesenhahn, speaks to the school’s standard for hard work, dedication, and perseverance for students.

The school has gone through a series of major changes. The most recent was changing its name to St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory from Xavier University Preparatory School after having that title for 55 years.

In 1970 came the change from being a co-ed school to that of an all-girls school. Reportedly The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who at the time administered the school, said the change was to coincide with a shift in the community, particularly at local Catholic institutions, to single-sex education.

“I remember the day when they made the announcement on the PA and coaches started breaking down crying, the coach was the one to bring these young men from the community to the school; it was a powerhouse,” Doley said. For the young men who attended, the healthy rivalry between St. Augustine and Xavier Preparatory male students were fond memories. “There would be no shootings, the worse would be a fight,” said Doley of the intense rivalry with St. Augustine.

When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the school was spared compared to other Catholic schools like St. Mary’s Academy and St. Augustine High School, which suffered flooding of eight feet of water. St. Katharine had its windows blown out in the gymnasium, but it did not flood. In January 2006, the administrators put together a program called MAX representing the names of the schools: St. Mary’s Academy, St. Augustine, and St. Katharine. St. Mary’s Academy and St. Augustine High School moved into St. Katharine, temporarily until the other two schools reopened. Every school had its own mission, they were separate but together, Friesenhahn said. “We opened our doors with three schools to coexist under one roof,” Griffin added.

Then again on Feb. 14, 2013 the school faced a critical juncture that threatened its very existence. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament announced they would close then, Xavier Prep because they could no longer afford to support the school. And at the end of that school year, The Prep closed its doors..

“The nuns took the keys, changed the locks, shut it down, took all the documents, took the plaques off the wall and historical trophies,” Branche said.

Public figures like Judge Edwin Lombard, Clerk of Court Dale Atkins, Judge Piper Griffin, and attorneys Doley and Payton rallied behind the school and eventually reached an agreement with The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to repurchase the property. And although there had to be some trimming of its operating budget and combining the registrar and admission positions, along with other changes, the school reopened in the Fall of 2013 as St. Katharine Drexel.

“To keep the school alive and to prosper is incredible,” Branche said. “For us to be here for 100 years and still pursuing her dream, the Drexel dream.”

This article originally published in the October 12, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.