LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / August 14, 1998

LAPLACE – St. Charles Catholic High School, as it enters its 1998-1999school term, has many reasons to celebrate and many milestones to observe.

This is the 50th year since St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church inDestrehan established the school, according to principal Andrew Cupit.

Also, it is 20 years since the high school grades moved to its present location in LaPlace. Finally, it is Cupit’s 10th year as principal.”We’re planning events throughout the year,” Cupit added, including class reunions. “We’re keeping the traditions going.”With so much history being observed, what is new at St. Charles CatholicHigh? “All rooms will be accessed to the Internet,” Cupit said. An additional$200-300,000 in construction is also under way, including a new weight room and new locker room area, all aimed at providing more classroom space for the growing school.

Enrollment for the new school term is estimated at 480 students, Cupit pointed out, with 28 teachers ready to do their duty.

And what of the school’s mission? “The first part of my job description is as spiritual leader of the school,” the principal said. “It’s an opportunity to practice my faith and work in myprofession.”The school, which is open to students of all faiths, is nevertheless 91 percent Roman Catholic.

All students are required to take four years of religion classes. There are14 school-wide masses per year, as well as class retreats and the living rosary is done at least twice per year.

And, as for academics at St. Charles Catholic High, the school requires 26units to graduate, three more than that required by the Louisiana Department of Education. The state requires three years of mathematics -St. Charles Catholic demands four years.”It pays dividends,” Cupit observed. “Last year, 64 percent of thegraduating class were offered scholarships. The ACT scores are also abovethe national average.”Other news includes art, speech and other enrichment programs to the school curriculum.

Cupit continued that the school’s mission is to develop the total student – spiritually, academically, socially and physically – “in that order.”All students are also required to perform 50 service hours during their four years at the school. For the second time last year, students from St.Charles Catholic High provided food for 300 hungry people last Thanksgiving, working through the St. John Parish Ministry of Care.However, St. Charles Catholic High has not lost touch with its roots at St.Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, where the elementary school is still very much in business.

“We want them in Destrehan to feel they’re still a part of our school and our training,” Cupit smiled.