Model shows future school at St. Charles
Michael Leighton
An artist’s rendering shows a new courtyard and buildings for the future De La Salle North Catholic High School at St. Charles Parish in the Cully Neighborhood near Northeast 42nd and Killingsworth. The former St. Charles School is on the right and proposed new buildings for the high school are on the left. IMAGE COURTESY DE LA SALLE NORTH CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
De La Salle North Catholic High School opened in the former Kenton Elementary School in north Portland in 2001 to provide a rigorous, faith-based education to diverse students from the Portland area who would not otherwise have access to a reliable college-preparatory education.
After losing its lease from Portland Public Schools, the private school is updating its plans to build a permanent home at St. Charles Parish near the corner of Northeast 42nd and Killingsworth. It has hired Bora Architects to design the new school and has announced a capital campaign which has raised about 85 percent of its goal of $21.7 million to make the move possible.
The new school will include state-of-the art science labs, a visual arts center and a high school competition size gym.
De La Salle North doesn’t look like most Portland-area private schools: 39% of its enrollment is Hispanic, 34% is African American, and 11% is multiracial; just 7% is Caucasian. It has been identified as Oregon’s most diverse private school. Additionally, 92% of students receive financial aid, and 71% of students qualify for the Federal Free and/or Reduced Lunch Program.
Yet an average of 98% of graduating seniors at De La Salle North have been accepted to college, more than two times the rate of peers with similar backgrounds and demographics. In 2019, 100% of the graduating class was accepted to college, with 74% receiving merit-based scholarships that totaled over $5.8 million.