La Salle Academy had its beginnings in 1871 as an elementary school for boys in downtown Providence. The school served the boys of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul and Saint John parishes and was staffed by a diocesan priest, a layman, and three De La Salle Christian Brothers. The school became known as the “Brothers’ School” and was renamed La Salle Academy when its status was changed from an elementary school to an academy. The early years were ones of happy growth and steady expansion. As the school gained a reputation for its outstanding educational program, the building at the intersection of Broadway and Fountain Street could no longer accommodate the demand. The Bishop of Providence authorized the building of a new school closer to the city limits. The present structure was dedicated on September 21, 1925. The La Salle name was not lost in downtown Providence, however, for the major intersection near the site of the old school is familiar to Rhode Islanders as “La Salle Square.” The new building saw notable achievement in many areas. The band and drama programs flourished. Athletic programs, especially football, hockey, and track were widely acclaimed. And La Salle began to see numbers of its graduates achieve prominence in the Church, in education, in government, in business, and in the arts. In 1983 the Bishop of Providence announced a plan which merged La Salle Academy with St. Mary Academy of the Visitation and St. Patrick High School, two all-girls schools. Six years later, in 1989, another significant development occurred: the governance of the school was transferred from the Diocese of Providence to a newly formed, independent, non-profit corporation comprising six De La SalleChristian Brothers, which has full authority over the management and operation of the Academy. Recent developments have included the establishment of a transition program, for students who need a closely monitored program in the development of academic success; PEGASUS 7/8 Program for gifted seventh and eighth-graders and the matching PEGASUS 9-12 Program for gifted high school students; the McLaughlin Athletic Center ; the Brother Michael McKenery Arts Center ; and the Shea Science and Student Center. The Pegasus 7/8 Program was discontinued in 2017 in favor of a 6-8 middle school. It is called De La Salle, and is home to roughly 200 students. In 1991 the U.S. Department of Education designated La Salle Academy as a Blue Ribbon Exemplary School.
Campus facilities
Main Building – The largest and oldest academic building on campus, dedicated in 1925 when the Academy moved from its location in downtown Providence to the current location in the Elmhurst neighborhood. It houses most of the classroom facilities as well as the library, computer labs, administrative offices, and the college counseling center. The first floor of one wing is devoted to the De La Salle Middle School.
Brothers' Chapel – The campus chapel in which daily mass is celebrated.
Brothers' Residence – Home to the members of the De La Salle Christian Brothers who teach at the school as well as the brothers who have retired from teaching. The Brothers' Residence also includes the Office of the President and the Alumni Center.
McLaughlin Athletic Center – Includes a field house with three multi-use courts, men's and women's locker rooms, weightlifting facilities, a dance studio, and classrooms.
Brother Michael McKenery Arts Center – Includes a state-of-the-art theatre, as well as studio and rehearsal space for the fine and performing arts. It also has a photography lab, television studio, and video editing facilities.
Shea Science and Student Center – Connected to the main building by a two-story footbridge, it houses all of the laboratory classrooms for the sciences, a dining hall, school store, and campus ministry office.
Cimini Stadium – Home to the men's and women's soccer and lacrosse teams as well as the men's football team.
Cronin Field – Home to the men's baseball team.
Other athletic facilities include the softball field, practice fields for football and lacrosse, and six tennis courts. The golf team's home course is Alpine Country Club in Cranston, Rhode Island. The cross country home course is currently at Colt State Park in Bristol, Rhode Island. The fields were fully completed in fall of the 2011–2012 school year.
Athletics
La Salle's 64 teams in 18 sports are referred to as the Rams for men's sports, and the Lady Rams for women's sports. Nearly all teams compete in Division I of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League. La Salle Academy was noted in May 2005 by Sports Illustrated magazine for having the best athletic program in Rhode Island. The La Salle Rams Football team has been successful winning the State Championship in In 2008 and most recently 2017.The men's soccer team,won six consecutive state championship titles from 2000 to 2005, and the women's soccer team won five consecutive titles from 2001 to 2005. In addition, the gymnastics team has secured ten consecutive state titles, with New England Championship titles in 2003 and 2009. The men's lacrosse team won 8 consecutive state championship, from 2012, to 2019. Since 2013, the men's cross country team has won three consecutive New England Championship titles, and 5 in the last seven years. This has lead to two berths to compete at the 2014 Nike Cross Nationals as well as the 2019 events in Beaverton, Oregon. They finished 18th, and 6th respectively. The women's team has had equal success, winning eight states cross country titles and going to Nike Cross Nationals in 2009, 2015, and 2016. The women's track teams won the 4x1Mile relay at New Balance Nationals in 2015 indoors, 2015 outdoors, 2016 indoors, and was runner up in 2016 outdoors. La Salle's sports rivals are other Rhode Island independent, Roman Catholic schools including Bishop Hendricken High School, Mount Saint Charles Academy, and St. Mary Academy - Bay View. East Providence High School is La Salle's traditional opponent in a Thanksgiving Day football rivalry that dates back to 1929.
