Our Story
After closing Saint Michael parish school in 1999 because of economic conditions and changing demographics in the neighborhood, pastor Father Herb Sperger felt the loss of a strong Catholic educational presence. He researched different innovative educational models and reached out to the Christian Brothers to form a San Miguel school. The Christian Brothers knew they could not open another school alone, and so the Christian Brothers and Sisters of Saint Joseph met to work on creating a unique collaboration. On December 2, 2002, a group of 16 dedicated men and women including Brother Kevin Dalmasse, FSC; Brother Rene Sterner, FSC; Sister Judy Oliver, SSJ, and Sister Anna Schuck, SSJ, gathered to create a school with the mission to serve and educate underprivileged children in West Kensington and Philadelphia.
This original, founding Board of Trustees brought many people together, and through the hard work and generosity of hundreds of people, the doors opened in September 2003 in the former convent of Saint Michael’s parish, with thirty students in grades three and four. La Salle Academy grew each year to our now full school of Grades 3 - 8. Open to students of all faiths and backgrounds, La Salle Academy educates a uniquely diverse population of students.
Many of our students are from families impacted by generational poverty, community violence and housing insecurity: 96% of our students qualify for the Federal Free or Reduced Lunch and the average income for a family of four is $20,885. Recently, several students have lost family members to violence or addiction and have experienced the hardship of an incarcerated family member. Additionally, many of our students live in single-parent households or reside in kinship or foster care and have a parent incarcerated. Despite these statistics and challenges, our students make great strides. Each of our families shows their support with a nominal $250 yearly tuition. The remainder of our operating budget is sustained almost entirely by donations.
La Salle Academy offers its students an academically rigorous education designed to prepare them for future success in high school and beyond. LSA is based on a unique, transformative, and successful model for elementary and middle schools called the San Miguel Model. This model is dedicated to serving poor and at-risk students. Our school operates an Extended Year, 11-month school calendar, an Extended school day from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., and class sizes not exceeding 15. These features allow our students to more readily retain lessons learned and reduce the time our students spend unsupervised outside of school.
Our curriculum is enhanced by a Graduate Support Program, designed to provide our students with the assistance necessary to be successful in high school and to be prepared for higher education and the workforce. The services begin in eighth grade with the search for a proper high school, followed by applications for admission and financial aid, and continue with caring encouragement through the social and academic challenges of high school.
La Salle Academy is more than a school. It is a place where our students are loved, nurtured, and feel safe. From our morning Assembly, which includes prayer and character development lessons, to daily community circles, liturgies, religion classes, and our peer-mediation program, our students are taught to think, speak, and act with respect toward each other. Equipped with our Five Goals – to be Peaceful, to be Responsible, to be Consistent, to be Motivated, and to be Respectful – La Salle Academy students infuse their homes and neighborhoods with this unique spirit.
