BRONZEVILLE — At the start of the 2017-18 school year, De La Salle Institute will merge its two campuses and become a coed high school.
The decision followed a recent school survey showing the single-sex school environment is no longer the driving reason parents send their children to De La Salle, according to school officials.
“By becoming a coeducational high school, De La Salle will continue to experience significant growth while providing many opportunities for current and future scholars in a one-campus setting,” said De La Salle President Paul Novak.
The school’s evolution into a coed institute at 3434 S. Michigan Ave. comes more than a decade after De La Salle became one of two co-institutional schools in the country in 2002, when it opened its Lourdes Hall Campus at 1040 W. 32nd Place in Bridgeport for girls.
School officials were not immediately available to talk about how the switch to a coeducational setting could affect future enrollment.
Since De La Salle opened in 1889, De La Salle has educated students from all over the South Side, including students from the neighboring communities of Bridgeport, Bronzeville and Back of the Yards.
In its 126 years on the South Side, more than 10,000 students have graduated from the school, including political powerhouses and former mayors Richard J. Daley and Richard M. Daley.
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