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School's Beginning
Opened by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Christian Brothers)
on September 10, 1962, Archbishop Rummel High School welcomed 225
freshmen into its charter class. In its second year, with the
admission of nine new freshman classes, the school had an enrollment
of almost 600 students. Additional freshman classes were added each
year until the 1965-66 school year when the school was a complete
high school with 1,100 students. The charter class of 222 was
graduated on May 27, 1966. The senior high school plant occupies one third of the campus and
consists of  five separate building adjoined by covered walkways. The
remaining portion of the campus is structure-free for athletic
programs and future development. The senior high campus is divided
into the faculty office wing, the administration-library wing, and
the classroom wings completing a quadrangle in the center of which
is the school chapel. A senior wing was added in 1966 to accommodate
the first senior class. The school cafeteria and gymnasium are located on the senior high
campus. In memory of the Nelson-Smyth family of Chicago, the
gymnasium was dedicated in May 1963. A building program that saw the
construction of the senior wing also included the music building, an
athletic field house, and an addition to the faculty office wing. During the 1980-81 school year, the school enclosed the area
under the senior wing to make a student mall and also added a weight
room to the field house. The school operated as a four year high
school until 1981 when the Archdiocese of New Orleans gave
permission for the school to begin an eighth grade program for the
1982-83 academic year.
Additionally, in 1985 the school purchased the former Stuart Prep
property adjacent to the school to use for a junior high campus. The
Christian Brothers relinquished governance of Archbishop Rummel High
School to the Archdiocese of New Orleans in June 1993. Lay men and
women today comprise the administration, faculty, and staff of the
school. Alumni and parent fund campaigns have allowed the school to
enlarge and upgrade school facilities. In 1976 school officials
purchased large, wooded lots on both sides of Severn Avenue that now
face West Napoleon. Also, the Kenneth Bossetta Library was enlarged
and renovated in 1995, while the Field House and Locker Room
experienced extensive renovations in 2003. In addition to striving for Excellence in Education, Archbishop
Rummel administrators, faculty and staff model St. John Baptist de
La Salle’s charisms of faith, community, and service. As the founder
of the Christian Brothers and the Patron Saint of Christian
Teachers, de La Salle’s teaching philosophy provides students with
an education that is intellectual, cultural, religious, and
vocational, by means of courses that are suited to their needs and
which are based on Christian values.
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