La Salle Military Academy, later known as La Salle Center, 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 was later owned by St. John's University, located in Jamaica, Queens.
History
La Salle Military Academy 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 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 school had extensive boarding facilities and attracted many sons of the wealthiest Catholic families in the northeastern United States. It also attracted a strong international contingent, particularly from Latin America. For many years LSMA was considered one of the top preparatory schools on the East Coast. It was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Its academics were held in the highest regard and although LSMA did not require its students to take Regents Examinations, they never found this to be an issue. LSMA's reputation was such that its graduates were consistently admitted to the best colleges. Graduating classes were often 100% college-bound.
Another academic benefit of not being a Regents program was that the faculty were not bound by a rigid curriculum, which widened the school's latitudes when it came to classes. This benefited the day-to-day education that took place there. For example, in English classes students would often read books that would never have been permitted in a Public School setting (e.g. Kurt Vonnegut, Evelyn Waugh, Bernard Malamud). Honors-track students were often able to take college-level courses (curriculum-wise). LSMA offered some very advanced math and history classes, as well as Marine Biology.
In 1993 it began a non-military program for students. It began admitting girls as well as non-military students. It changed its name from "La Salle Military Academy" to "La Salle Center." The JROTC Military was made optional, and so cadets attended classes side-by-side with non-military, "Prep" students. By the time the school closed, only a fraction of its students participated in the Military program. It also began extending its classes into the Middle School and later into the Elementary grades.
In 1997 the school had 525 students, its highest ever enrollment.
In 1999 St. Johns University spent $14,300,000 to purchase the former campus. The school continued operations at the time, and the university leased the building to the school.
By 2001 the number of students had decreased, down to 266. Dennis Cronin, the headmaster, stated that boarding schools were no longer as popular, and that other Catholic schools had attracted students away. In February 2001, the board of trustees stated that the institution would close effective June 30 that year.
In 2016, St. Johns sold the campus to Amity University.
Academic and JROTC programs 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. As a "Junior ROTC Honor School with Distinction," the school could actually make nominations to the service academies. The school maintained this status until it closed its doors in 2001. Another benefit of this status was that the Army assigned active duty personnel to conduct Military training. This was led by a command-rank officer (usually a Colonel or a Major), who served as the school's SAI (Senior Army Instructor). The rest of the team was made up of NCO's (non-commissioned officers, i.e. sergeants). Many of these NCOs were professional drill instructors. For many of these Army personnel, LSMA was their last stop before retirement.
Campus Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of LSMA was its magnificent campus. In the Sixties and Seventies the campus was 200-plus acres, though later classes may remember the campus being smaller. Older alumni may remember that the West Sayville County Golf Course adjacent to the campus had once actually been part of the campus in the 1920s and 1930s.
Bourne Mansion Indian Neck Hall, the "Bourne Mansion", housed the school's Admissions and Finance offices. The old servants' quarters on the upper floors housed the Christian Brothers on the Second Floor, and the Third Floor was converted to student housing. It also had sitting rooms for students to visit with parents and sometimes girlfriends as well. The ornate old ballroom of the mansion was converted into the school chapel during the La Salle years. In the summer of 1976, Brother Roger Chingas led a group of students in dismantling an Opus One pipe organ which was about to be destroyed in a church in Albany NY. Brother Roger then oversaw the restoration of the pipe organ piece by piece in the Chapel where it remains today. For a period of time, the chapel was converted into a catering facility by the Lessings. Today it has been reverted to its original purpose.
There was an abundance of school lore about the old mansion. For instance, there was a long-abandoned swimming pool in the basement. School legend had it that it had been shut down after Commodore Bourne's son had drowned in it. According to legend, Commodore Bourne was distraught over his son's drowning and sold the mansion to the Christian Brothers for $1 with the agreement that his son's portrait would never be moved from the mansion's main parlor room, and the swimming pool would never be used again. Other school legends pertained to secret passages inside the Mansion. Legend also had it that there was a tunnel that ran from the "Esplanade," a raised brick veranda on the south side of the Mansion, to the Horse Stables, 1/2 mile East of the mansion.
The Esplanade
Esplanade veranda provided a scenic view of the vast Parade Field and the Great South Bay beyond. Cadet parades of the several-hundred-strong Cadet Corps were reviewed from this vantage point. Sometimes the cadets wore "Full Dress" uniforms with brass buttons and breastplates, sashes, gold brocade, and medals. During much of the school's existence, LSMA uniforms were made and tailored by Brooks Brothers in Manhattan.
The Boathouse Boat House was another vestige of the old estate, which was alongside a boat basin that emptied into the Great South Bay. During most of the Academy's history, it housed the theater where plays and shows were produced by the cadets, however in 1983, the Boat House was given an upgrade and was converted to a café style game facility at the same time that Centennial Hall was built. Centennial Hall became the center for the arts. From 1983 to 98 the boat house was converted to a game hall with pool tables, TV's, pinball machines and arcade games. It also housed a small kitchen where students could order and pay for meals not part of the school lunch program. Later it was damaged by storms and rendered unusable. It is currently boarded up and abandoned.
St. Joseph's Hall & Senior Steps
St. Joseph's Hall, a massive four-story building that was taller than anything else for miles provided the main cadet residence. It was one of the biggest structures along the Great South Bay shoreline and remains so to this day. The basement floor contained, classrooms, along with the athletic locker rooms, a barber and the gymnasium in an adjacent structure. Another important area of the basement was the rifle racks of the various companies. Each company was assigned its own rifle rack. As a JROTC Honor School, the U.S. Military provided rifles for drilling purposes (no firing pins) and each cadet was issued a rifle. The active Military staff took security for these weapons very seriously and the FBI was summoned if any were found missing, although that rarely happened.
In addition to being the main classroom floor, the Second Floor of St. Joseph's Hall contained Administrative offices such as the Dean of Studies, the Commandant, the Guidance Office, etc. The east side of the building was distinguished by a massive white marble staircase. This staircase was commonly known amongst the cadets as the "Senior Steps" because school rules forbade underclassmen to stand or walk on them. Transgressions by underclassmen were punished by being forced to clean them with a mop or scrub brushes, depending on how strict the senior class felt like being. School legend had it that some violators were even made to scrub it with a toothbrush!
The third and fourth floors of St. Joseph's were residence areas for cadets. The Third Floor housed "A" and "B" Companies; the Fourth Floor housed "C" and "D" Companies. (A fifth Company, "E" Company, was housed in the residence area in the third floor of the Mansion.) There were no elevators in any of the LSMA buildings, so cadets would have to climb quite a few steps during the course of the day. The building also had an attic with a high ceiling which could have been made into additional space had the school been so inclined. As it was, it was used for storage.
Molloy Hall
The seniors were all housed in a building separate from the underclassmen called Molloy Hall. It leveraged some lovely features of the old estate such as a kayak house on the stream adjoining it and a rose trellis. The trellis has since rotted away, with only a single section and concrete footings remaining. Similarly, the kayak house disintegrated and only the concrete base remains. Seniors were housed two to a room, as opposed to between four, six and eight cadets to a room for underclassmen. If both roommates smoked, smoking was permitted in the room although LSMA later became a "non-smoking campus." Also, seniors were the only cadets who were permitted to have cars on campus and parking spaces behind Molloy Hall facilitated this.
Centennial Hall Centennial Hall built during the early 1980s, and dedicated in 1983, became the school's main auditorium. The building housed the Music Department and the Living Theatre program. The Living Theatre program performed three shows annually with first year shows being directed by Bro Michael McDonald, and Bill Ballantyne who went on to be director of the Living Theatre program until 1987. It housed the LSMA music department, and was also home to outside performing groups. It housed a small instrument repair room and the Drum and Bugle Corps would often use the music department to practice during drill when they were not out marching and practicing trick moves. At one time it was even used to stage Oldies Rock and Roll shows. The building also served as a graduation space when the weather didn't cooperate. It currently houses "Kids for Kids Productions," a non-profit children's drama group.
"Pete's Island"