Archbishop Blenk High School

Archbishop Blenk High School was an all girl Catholic high school in Gretna, Louisiana. The school was located on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, the school was founded in 1962, named after James Blenk, and staffed by the Marianites of Holy Cross. Blenk's school colors were blue and gray and proud home to the doves, their mascot.

Archbishop Blenk High School
Location
Gretna
,
(Jefferson Parish)
,
Louisiana
Coordinates29.910794°N 90.045548°W / 29.910794; -90.045548
Information
TypePrivate, All-Female
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1962
Closed2007
Grades8-12
Websitehttps://web.archive.org/*/http://www.blenkhs.org

The school has been accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools since 1975.[1]

Blenk/Immaculata merge

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has announced that after the 2006–2007 school year, Archbishop Blenk and Immaculata High School, both located on the West Bank, will merge. The new school will be called The Academy of Our Lady. Alumni, parents of students, and students have protested against this merger. One group of concerned parents, students and alumni have created a web site called Stop The Merger to pass along information in the hope of preventing the merger of Archbishop Blenk and Immaculata.[2] The new school, like Immaculata, will be run by the Salesian Sisters.

The Times-Picayune reported on January 4, 2007: "Reversing course for the third time in less than a year, the Archdiocese of New Orleans will close the 46-year-old Archbishop Blenk High School in Gretna at the end of the school year and shift its students to Immaculata High in Marrero. Under a plan announced last spring, students at both schools would have been consolidated at Blenk’s Gretna Boulevard campus, and Immaculata closed, until construction of a new all-girls Catholic school on the West Bank. Then, a second plan to retain both campuses under a new name was announced in October."[3]

The Blenk building was remodeled and used for a new magnet school, named Thomas Jefferson High School. Since the magnet school is public, all religious figures and statues were removed from campus.

Awards and recognition

During the 1994–98 period, Archbishop Blenk High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,[4] the highest award an American school can receive.[5][6]

References
  1. SACS CASI Accredited Schools Archived April 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, accessed May 1, 2007.
  2. "Merger and acquisition reverse business at stopthemerger.net". www.stopthemerger.net. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  3. Purpura, Paul (2007-01-04). "Archbishop Blenk to close". The Times Picayune. Archived from the original on 2007-01-07. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  4. Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF) Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 11, 2006
  5. CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department Archived August 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."
  6. Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; The Washington Post. September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
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