De La Salle High School opened in September 1949 with a freshman class of 74 boys. The founding faculty/staff of the school included four De La Salle Christian Brothers: Brother Ernest Cocagne (De La Salle's first principal), Brother August Faure, Brother John Devine, and Brother Francis Vesel. Classes were initially held in a large old home (which also served as the residence for the De La Salle Brothers) on Pitt Street, but, in 1951, De La Salle High School moved to the present building on St. Charles Avenue.
A number of additions to the school's physical plant have been made over the years. These additions have included a wing of eight classrooms on Leontine Street (1957), a gymnasium (1961), a student chapel (1961), the Brother Arsenius Center (1980), the Buck Seeber Health and Fitness Center (2003), the Life Sciences Center (2008), and the Shane and Holley Guidry Baseball and Softball Complex (2009).
De La Salle High School, which was initially an all-boys school, became coeducational in 1992.
An interesting point regarding the school's history is that De La Salle High School was the first high school to open in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.[5] The school opened its doors to high school students from schools all across the city and surrounding areas.
Athletics
De La Salle High School athletic programs compete as a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA). The Cavaliers competed in the New Orleans Catholic League from 1955-56 through 2002-03, when the school chose to remain in the lower classification dictated by its enrollment instead of playing up to the highest classification, which three other Catholic League members were also doing at the time.
De La Salle has 17 sports teams: 10 boys' teams and 7 girls' teams.
Athletic facilities
De La Salle High School built the Shane and Holley Guidry Batting facility for baseball and softball. The facility has two batting cages with two pitching simulators. The complex also has an area for golf and tennis.
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(April 2019)
