St. Augustine High School (New Orleans)

St. Augustine High School was built by the Archdiocese of New Orleans with funds given by Catholics of the Archdiocese through the Youth Progress Program. The building and site were bought by the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (The Josephite Fathers and Brothers), to whom the operation of the school was entrusted. The Archdiocese of New Orleans placed the school under the patronage of St. Augustine of Hippo, a pre-eminent Christian and scholar of Africa, and a Father of the Church.

From its inception the school was intended for the education of young men from black Catholic families of New Orleans. In 1951, when education was segregated, schools in New Orleans open to black students were seen as generally poor.[2]

Respect for the students was seen as essential. The first principal wrote: "Calling the students 'mister' would help offset the negative impact of whites calling every black male 'boy' no matter what his age, his education, his standing in the community. Likewise, and for stronger reasons, the use of 'mister' would serve to negate the deleterious impact of the hateful use of the 'n' word."[3]

Although St. Augustine now welcomes students of all races, it remains a leading secondary school for black young men in Louisiana, and has long been nationally recognized in educational circles for outstanding success in preparing its students for higher education. Time magazine wrote in 1965:

"The boys are better trained than most Southern high school students of either race," says Harold Owens of Andover, one of the half-dozen leading prep schools that have accepted St. Aug students for intensive summer courses. Adds Charles McCarthy, director of a cooperative effort by the Ivy League schools to spot bright, underprivileged students: "St. Augustine produces high-quality candidates who don't disappoint the colleges once they're admitted." Peter Briggs, a freshman admissions officer at Harvard, finds St. Aug boys "interesting, constructive guys."[4]

St. Augustine High School led the way in battling segregation in New Orleans. The successful legal challenges mounted by the school (and lawyer A.P. Tureaud) resulted in the desegregation of high school athletics in Louisiana, so that by the end of the 1960s St Augustine teams could play against teams from white schools.[5]

The famed "Marching 100" was the first African-American high school band to march in the Rex parade on Mardi Gras Day, in 1967. The "Marching 100" also played for Pope John Paul II in 1987 and for eight U.S. Presidents.[6] Additionally, the band has performed for five Super Bowls, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and the 2002 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.[7] The band was the subject of a 60 Minutes segment New Orleans' St. Augustine High School Marching Band, the self-proclaimed "Best Band in the Land" which first aired March 14, 2021,[8] which (on the east coast) immediately preceded the live broadcast of the Grammy Awards, in which four St. Augustine alumni had been nominated.[9]

The "Marching 100" performing in the 2010 Endymion parade.

In 1971, the school added a wing to accommodate new science laboratories, a gymnasium and athletic complex, and a music complex. In 2005 the Warren and Hilda Donald Business and Technology Center was inaugurated. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, it is intended to ensure that St. Augustine students remain competitive in a technology-driven society. During the 21–22 school year, they re-did the entire building and locker rooms.

In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina affected New Orleans. The school, including its recently built business and technology wing and its band room, received flood damage. Some areas, including the band room, had 5 feet (1.5 m) of water. The total of damages was in the millions of dollars.[10] St. Augustine High School had to close its doors for the first time since its inception. The school had plans to re-open in August 2006. On a temporary basis the school planned to combine with two other Catholic schools to have a K-12 school in a facility that had not been flooded.[10] In January 2006, the administrations of St. Mary's Academy, St. Augustine High School, and Xavier University Preparatory collaborated to establish the MAX School of New Orleans. This guaranteed the post-Katrina survival of the three historically African-American Roman Catholic High Schools in New Orleans.

The school was later rebuilt and brought back to operating status.

Prior to 2015 St. Augustine had grades 6–12. The archdiocese began requiring schools to fit one of three grade configurations (PK-7, 8–12, or PK-12) in order to continue affiliation, and St. Augustine needed to change its grade configuration.[11] This was as per the archdiocese's 2013 strategic plan.[12] The school leadership considered changing the grade configuration to K-12.[13]

Prior to 1967, St. Augustine competed in the Louisiana Interscholastic Athletic and Literary Organization (L.I.A.L.O.). St. Augustine football won three state championships (1963, 1965, 1966) and one district championship in L.I.A.L.O.[21]

• 1983: St. Augustine 61–Neville 60
• 1992: St. Augustine 67–John Ehret 50
• 1995: (USA Today National Champions)
  St. Augustine 57–Catholic (B.R.) 33
• 1999: St. Augustine 54–South Lafourche 48
• 2011: St. Augustine 67–Scotlandville 43
• 2021: St. Augustine 47–Scotlandville 44

• 1975
• 1978
• 1979

• 1963
• 1965
• 1966

Football championship history Head football coach Otis Washington was head coach for all three LHSAA football state championships at the school.[22][23]

In the 1978 championship game, the first to be played in the Superdome, the Knights defeated Catholic League rival Jesuit 14–7 in front of a crowd of 42,000. This game led the LHSAA to move all championship games to the Superdome (now the Caesars Superdome) starting in 1981, where they remain to this day, save for a move to Shreveport in 2005 due to the damage the Superdome suffered during Hurricane Katrina.

St. Augustine lost the 1971 championship game, its first championship game in any sport as an LHSAA member, to archrival Brother Martin 23–0 in front of more than 25,000 fans at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans' City Park.[24]

• Bernard Griffith - Louisiana basketball coaches hall of fame head basketball coach, Bernard Griffith, was head coach at St. Augustine from 1987 to 2004.[25] During his eighteen seasons at the school, he compiled a record of 491–127 and won a USA Today national championship in 1995, and three state championships in 1992, 1995, and 1999 along with four runner-up finishes.[25][26] During his tenure as St. Augustine head coach, he also led the team to thirteen district championships including eleven in a row with his teams playing in the New Orleans Catholic League.[25] He was also an assistant coach on the 1983 state championship team.[25]
  Griffith has an overall record of 694–204 (.772) as a high school head coach and spent three years as head coach at Sarah T. Reed High School.[25][27] As a college head basketball coach, he was in charge of the Dillard University men's basketball program from 2011 to 2015.[25][27] He has also been an assistant coach at Southern University–Baton Rouge, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Jesuit High School in New Orleans.[27] Professionally, Griffith was an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks from 2005 to 2007.[25][28] As an administrator, he served as athletic director at L.B. Landry High School, Sophie B. Wright Charter High School, and also Southern University–New Orleans from 2017 to 2020.[29][30]

• Otis Washington - LHSAA Hall of Fame head football coach, Otis Washington, was head coach at St. Augustine from 1969 to 1979.[23] During his eleven seasons at the school, he compiled a 113–17–1 record and won three state championships in 1975, 1978, and 1979 and a state runner-up finish in 1971.[22][23] During his tenure at the school, he also lead the team to eleven consecutive winning seasons and seven district championships with his teams playing in the New Orleans Catholic League.[23] In 1980, Washington left to become the offensive line coach at LSU and from 1981 to 1986, he was head football coach for the Southern Jaguars football team finishing with a record of 35–30–1.[23]