Chalmette High School - History

History

The history of Chalmette High School began in 1928 with the addition of a freshman class to Meraux Elementary School. It is believed that an additional grade level was added each of three subsequent years until a four year institution could be established. It is interesting to note that prior to 1928, any student wanting a high school diploma had to transfer to an Orleans Parish Public School. Orleans Parish agreed to educate any secondary student from St. Bernard for a nominal annual fee, which was paid by St. Bernard Parish School Board.

The first high school in St. Bernard Parish was named Joseph Maumas High School, and was located on Friscoville Street in Old Arabi. Sometime during the 1930s, the name was changed to Arabi High School. The school acquired its present nickname from an owl figurine that hung above the school entrance. The figurine was lost, but the nickname lives on.

In 1954, Arabi High School changed its name to Chalmette Senior High School as it moved to the site of the current Chalmette Elementary School. A new facility was constructed further "down the road" at the corner of (then Goodchildren) Judge Perez and Palmisano, and Chalmette Senior High moved there in 1962.

St. Bernard High was opened in the early 1960s and served the lower end of St. Bernard Parish.

In the fall of 1966, Chalmette High School became an all-boys high school. This helped meet the demand of more classrooms to house the ever growing school population. The solution to the problem of having four co-ed high schools was to segregate by sex. This would cut costs drastically since the parish would only have to build and maintain two stadiums instead of four. Andrew Jackson High School and PGT Beauregard High School served girls for the next 22 years, and they became the "sister" schools to Chalmette and St. Bernard respectively.

During the 1968-1969 term, the school's name was officially changed to Chalmette High School, but the sign outside the front door still has "Senior" on it.

In 1970, the Owls joined the New Orleans Catholic League, in the LHSAA's new class 4A. Though the Owls never won it in football, they were more than a match for their district foes, and this time period is remembered by many as the heyday of the school. In 1975, a Chalmette student let loose a canister of teargas under the football stadium during the rivalry game with Holy Cross. In 1978, they played eventual state champion St. Augustine for a share of the Catholic League championship, and lost 20-19 in front of a still school-record crowd of 14,000 on their campus. Back then, there were no "wild cards" in the LHSAA state football playoffs, so the Owls missed the state playoffs with what could have been one of the top teams in the state.

The year 1971 brought construction to Chalmette High. As the school population grew, more space was needed. An addition was built that is still referred to as "the new building." The school grew to a high of 1,600 boys in the 1970s, but shrank with the opening of Meraux Catholic school Archbishop Hannan High School in 1985. That and the decision to go back to co-ed status in 1989 brought about a mild decline in the school. More students were choosing to attend Andrew Jackson, a magnet school that served the entire parish, rather than just the upper end. Chalmette left the Catholic League football district after the 1988 season.

Chalmette High stayed between 700-900 students for the next 15 years, as their academic ratings stayed stable and their sports teams saw moderate success in class 4A, now no longer the highest classification. Their classification briefly dipped to 3A in the early 2000s, which made them look out of place compared to other 3A schools in Louisiana. In this brief period, them and St. Bernard were in the same LHSAA district.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina changed everything. The parish was completely devastated, and St. Bernard Parish leaders saw an opportunity to rebuild bigger and better. The St. Bernard Parish school board opened a school in trailers set up in the stadium parking lot in November 2005, and welcomed 334 students from kindergarten to 12th grade on its first day. Chalmette High School played temporarily under the St. Bernard Unified School banner in its sports. By the springtime, the main building on Judge Perez had been repaired.

As the parish struggled with difficult decisions in the aftermath of Katrina, they decided Chalmette High School would be the only one to rebuild after the storm. Archbishop Hannan was relocated to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain by the Archdiocese. Andrew Jackson and St. Bernard were eventually converted into middle schools. Even rival Holy Cross relocated from their lower 9th ward campus to a new site on Paris Avenue, in Gentilly.

As St. Bernard Parish started to repopulate, Chalmette High School joined LHSAA class 5A for the first time in its history for the 2007 football season, and rejoined the Catholic League. The school is undergoing a transformation, with the freshman academy across Judge Perez at the former Lacoste Elementary, the Cultural Arts Center and St. Bernard Public Library next door, field houses for both the football and baseball teams, the stadiums renovated with artificial turf added, and a skywalk over Judge Perez Drive connecting the two campuses done. Still to come are a new band room, new school library, a new cafeteria, and administrative offices. Chalmette High hit an important milestone in 2012, as they received an "A" rating from the state of Louisiana for their school performance score.

Chalmette High School has seen only six principals in its 84 years. Wayne Warner has been the leader of this school for the past 39 years. From its inception in 1928 until now, as the school population increased and changed with the times, so did Chalmette High to accommodate growth throughout St. Bernard Parish. The school has evolved to meet the increasing demands of an everchanging society.