McDonogh School 13 circa 1900; in 1917 this building would be repurposed as the first home of McDonogh 35.
Prior to 1917, during the era of segregated school systems in the Southern U.S., no public high school existed in New Orleans for African-American pupils. Those interested in pursuing an education beyond the eighth grade had to attend one of the city's three private secondary schools for blacks: Leland College, New Orleans University, or Straight College.
In 1917, a group of citizens met to petition the Orleans Parish School System to convert McDonogh 13 Boys' School from a white elementary school to a secondary educational facility for black pupils. The petition was granted and in the fall of 1917, McDonogh 35 Senior High School became recognized as a four-year high school. McDonogh 35 remained the only public four-year high school for African Americans until the L. B. Landry transitioned from an elementary into a high school in 1942. Booker T. Washington also opened its doors in 1942 for African Americans.
Over the years, McDonogh 35 has changed its location four times. The original building at 655 South Rampart Street was destroyed when Hurricane Betsy struck New Orleans in 1965, and for the next four years the school was temporarily located in the former United States Federal Court House Building at 600 Camp Street. In 1969, students and faculty were moved into the school facility at 133 St. Ann Street that formerly housed McDonogh 41 Elementary School. In September 1972, the facility relocated to 1331 Kerlerec Street in the Tremé neighborhood.[3] During the 1992-1993 school year, McDonogh 35 was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.
By April 13, 2006, McDonogh 35 was one of six public high schools that had re-opened since Katrina. Of them, it was the only one in a Downtown neighborhood. According to Philip White, the principal, initially the administration had plans to accommodate 800 students but found fewer due to the effects of the hurricane. One month later, the enrollment went over 1,000 students and the administration was forced to stop accepting students.[4]
The current facility which opened on August 20, 2015 is located on 16 acres in the Bayou District at 4000 Cadillac Street, the former Phillips/Waters school site.[3] The Louisiana Recovery School District allocated $55 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency recovery funds tied to this site to construct the new state of the art McDonogh 35 College Preparatory High School.
On December 20, 2018, the Orleans Parish School Board awarded the InspireNOLA charter group a two-year management contract to operate McDonogh 35 College Preparatory High School, which will only have eleventh and twelfth grades.[5] Once the students graduate, that school will close.[5]
The school board also announced that InspireNOLA was awarded a contract to create a charter high school on the same campus.[5] In 2019, McDonogh 35 College Preparatory Charter High School will start with ninth grade and add a grade each year until it reaches twelfth grade.[5]
The "Roneagle"
A "Roneagle" or "Ironeagle" is a mythical bird fashioned after the American bald eagle however because of its solid iron constitution, it was stronger, swifter, larger and more resourceful than all other birds—a symbol of strength and courage meant to inspire the students of the school. The first issue of the school's yearbook in 1928 describes the mythical creature.
Academics
Christine Woyshner and Chara Haeussler Bohan, editors of Histories of Social Studies and Race: 1865-2000, said that "Despite the pressures of a state-mandated standardized curriculum and a corresponding accountability policy, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, McDonogh 35 retained a strong academic curriculum that placed social justice and students at its center.[2]
Athletics
McDonogh 35 College Preparatory Charter athletics competes in the LHSAA.[6]
DeCuir, Erica (2012). "Placing Social Justice at the Center of Standards-Based Reform: Race and Social Studies at McDonogh #35 Senior High, New Orleans, 1980–2000". In Woyshner, Christine; Bohan, Chara Haeussler (eds.). Histories of Social Studies and Race: 1865–2000. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 159–178. ISBN978-1-137-00754-4.
^ abWoyshner and Bohan, "Introduction." Pg. 11, Histories of Social Studies and Race: 1865-2000."[...]in McDonogh #35 Senior High School in New Orleans. In 1917, McDonogh #35 was established as the first public high school for Black children in Louisiana."
^Rioux, Paul. "New Orleans native gives BP a friendlier face" New Orleans Times Picayune. June 27, 2010. Retrieved on March 16, 2013. "Willis, who grew up in Pontchartrain Park and graduated from McDonogh 35 High School, has quickly become one of the oil giant's most public faces."
