{{for|the school district in McGehee, Arkansas<!--This line is talking about Arkansas, not Louisiana-->|McGehee School District}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox school | name = Louise S. McGehee School | image = McGehee School.JPG | image_size = | caption = The Louise S. McGehee School | location = | address = 2343 Prytania Street | region = | city = New Orleans | state = Louisiana | province = | county = | postal_code = | zipcode = 70130 | country = USA | coordinates = {{Coord|29|55|55.33|N|90|4|54.46|W|region:US|display=inline,title}} | school_number = | school_board = | district = | authority = | religious_affiliation = | denomination = Non-denominational | oversight = | affiliation = | superintendent = | trustee = | founder = Louise S. McGehee | head_of_school = Hannah Dietsch (interim)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mcgeheeschool.com/about/about-the-interim-head|title=About the Interim Head|publisher=McGehee School|access-date=2025-07-15}}</ref> | specialist = | president = | head_teacher = | head_label = | head = | administrator = | rector = | chaplain = | director = | custodian = | staff = | USNWR_ranking = | faculty = 102 ''(2015)'' | teaching_staff = | enrollment = | MOE = | ceeb = | school_code = | local_authority = | ofsted = | test_average = | test_name = | national_ranking = | classes = | classes_offered = | avg_class_size = | ratio = 8:1 | graduates = | gender = Girls | lower_age = | upper_age = | houses = | schooltype = | fundingtype = | type = private, nondenominational, all-girls' college preparatory school | system = | revenue = | endowment = | budget = | enrolment = | products = | grades = PK – 12 | age_range = 2-18 | language = | classrooms = | campus = | campus_size = | campus_type = | hours_in_day = | athletics = | athletic_conference = Louisiana High School Athletic Association | slogan = | song = "Hail Ms. McGehee" | fight_song = | motto = | accreditation = Independent Schools Association of the Southwest, National Association of Independent Schools, National Coalition of Girls' Schools | rival = | mascot = Hawks | mascot image = | sports = volleyball, soccer, golf, basketball, tennis, softball, swimming, track, cross country, gymnastics | patron = | team_name = McGehee Hawks | nickname = McGehee | colours = Red and grey <br> {{color box|red}} {{color box|grey}} | yearbook = Spectator | publication = | newspaper = | opened = | established = 1912 | founded = | status = | closed = | alumni = | nobel_laureates = | gradeK = | grade1 = | grade2 = | grade3 = | grade4 = | grade5 = | grade6 = | grade7 = | grade8 = | grade9 = | grade10 = | grade11 = | grade12 = | other_grade_label = | other = | communities = | feeder_schools = | free_label = | free_text = | free_label1 = | free_text1 = | free_label2 = | free_text2 = | free_label3 = | free_text3 = | free_label4 = | free_text4 = | free_label5 = | free_text5 = | footnotes = | picture = | website = http://www.mcgeheeschool.com }} The '''Louise S. McGehee School''' is an all-girls private, independent school in the Garden District in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.<ref>"[http://new.nola.gov/nola/media/HDLC/Historic%20Districts/Garden.pdf Garden District Historic District]." ({{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208195529/http://new.nola.gov/nola/media/HDLC/Historic%20Districts/Garden.pdf |date=2015-12-08 }}) City of New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission. Retrieved on March 30, 2013.</ref> The McGehee campus, which is one city block, has ten buildings and at least {{convert|100000|sqft|sqm}} of space.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Campus|url=https://www.mcgeheeschool.com/about/campus |access-date=2025-02-07 |publisher=McGehee School |language=en}}</ref>
==History== The school, founded by Louise S. McGehee, opened in September 1912 at 1439 Louisiana Avenue with 30 students. It was originally called '''Mrs. Chapman's School'''. It later moved into a mansion in the Garden District.<ref name="Merrill235">Merrill, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dh0Oa1lkheAC&dq=%22Garden+District%22+schools+McGehee&pg=PA235 235].</ref> In 1929, the school moved to the current location at 2343 Prytania Street. and became a corporation known as the Louise S. McGehee School. In the fall of 1929, there were 209 students and classes began with the fifth grade.
The 1938 Works Progress Administration New Orleans City Guide described it as one of the most popular private schools in New Orleans.<ref>''New Orleans City Guide'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lZvrBOEq8lEC&dq=McGehee+School&pg=PA77 77]. "New Orleans has had a number of private schools, only a few of which, however, survived the depression. The Louise S. McGehee School for Girls, an accredited elementary and high school founded in 1912, is one of the most popular in the city."</ref> In the 1950s, the school added grades Kindergarten through fourth grade. In 1962, a new Lower School building was dedicated for Kindergarten through Sixth Grade and in 1973, the first Pre-Kindergarten class started at the school.
According to Eli N. Evans' 1973 autobiography ''The Provincials'', in its early history McGehee was where the New Orleans "elite" sent their children to "shield" them from minorities.<ref name="Evans209">Evans, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wWcDO0gA1H0C&dq=%22Garden+District%22+schools+McGehee&pg=PA209 209].</ref> Historically, many graduates of McGehee matriculated to H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College of Tulane University.<ref>Evans, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wWcDO0gA1H0C&pg=PA213 213]</ref> In 1973 Evans described the school as "[t]he debutante West Point, the playing fields of Eton, the New Orleans version of Choate-Chapin-Cordon Bleu all rolled into one".<ref name="Evans209" /> In the 1990s, McGehee started an Early Childhood Program, "Little Gate", which is a co-educational program for children aged one through four.<ref name="ReferenceA">Smith, Sarah Caskey. ''The Past, The Present, The Promise,'' 2011 ({{ISBN|978-1-4507-9656-9}})</ref>
Before Hurricane Katrina, the school had about 500 students. After Katrina hit in August 2005, the school resumed classes in October, and by November 2005 the school was down to about half of its pre-Katrina enrollment.<ref>Williams, Mike. "[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AASB&p_theme=aasb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10E1E0FA962C77C8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Few school bells ringing in this city Already plagued by bad scores, decrepit buildings, district has made little progress on repairs]." ''The Austin American-Statesman''. November 25, 2005. News p. A36. Retrieved on March 31, 2013. "At the Louise S. McGehee School, a private prep school for girls in New Orleans' lightly touched Garden District, classes resumed in October, and enrollment has climbed to about half of the pre-Katrina level of about 500 students." Available on LexisNexis. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/140271294/ Clipping] at Newspapers.com.</ref> As of 2024, enrollment was approximately 450 students.<ref name="Louise S Mcgehee School">{{cite web |title=Louise S Mcgehee School |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/louisiana/louise-s-mcgehee-school-308190#students-and-teachers |website=US News & World Report |access-date=15 June 2025}}</ref>
==Enrollment==
McGehee School had 443 students enrolled as of the 2024–25 school year. The demographics were 77.9% white, 9.9% Black or African American, 8.4% two or more races, 2.3% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1.6% Hispanic/Latina.<ref name="Louise S Mcgehee School"/>
==Buildings==
As of 2014, the campus had expanded to include six formerly residential mansions in the Garden District, including the Bradish Johnson House, designed by James Freret and Abby Hall, designed by Henry Howard.<ref name=NOLA14>{{cite news |last1=Langenhennig |first1=Susan |title=A 19th-century St. Charles Avenue mansion will soon become home to Louise S. McGehee preschool |url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/home_garden/a-19th-century-st-charles-avenue-mansion-will-soon-become-home-to-louise-s-mcgehee/article_96c33a93-4969-5d60-9ab3-f74b9df6f3c8.html |access-date=1 June 2025 |work=NOLA.com |publisher=Times-Picayune |date=10 October 2014}}</ref>
==Facilities== The school, as of 2014, takes up almost all of the 2300 block of St. Charles Avenue. The original building, from 1872, is the Bradish Johnson House (2343 Pyritania Street). {{As of|2014}} the school headquarters, library, and high school classrooms are in this building. Additionally, as of 2014, the school had acquired six residences in different years.<ref name=Langenhennigbuildings>{{cite news|last=Langenhennig|first=Susan|url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/home_garden/a-19th-century-st-charles-avenue-mansion-will-soon-become-home-to-louise-s-mcgehee/article_96c33a93-4969-5d60-9ab3-f74b9df6f3c8.html|title=A 19th-century St. Charles Avenue mansion will soon become home to Louise S. McGehee preschool|newspaper=The Times-Picayune|date=2014-10-10|access-date=2025-07-15}} - Some content is in an image gallery, which is captured in the archive in the Wayback Machine.</ref>
In 1996 it took control of 1528 Philip Street, and in the following year, it took control of what is now Paulette de la Vergne Stewart '57 Alumnae House (2336 St. Charles Avenue). {{As of|2014}} the latter has the public relations department while the former has language and performing arts courses. In 2003 it took control of what is now Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin '50 Hall (2338 St. Charles Avenue). {{As of|2014}} it has middle and high school classes.<ref name=Langenhennigbuildings/> The Henry Howard-designed Abby Hall, which was constructed in the 1870s,<ref>{{cite news|last=Langenhennig|first=Susan|url=https://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2013/12/take_a_tour_of_a_st_charles_av.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218122124/https://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2013/12/take_a_tour_of_a_st_charles_av.html|url-status=live|archive-date=2013-12-18|title=Take a tour of a St. Charles Avenue mansion renovated for use as Louise S. McGehee's middle school (video)|newspaper=The Times Picayune|date=2013-12-13|access-date=2025-07-15}}</ref> opened as a school property in 2010. The building was named in the memory of a McGehee student.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mcgeheeschool.com/about/history|title=History|publisher=McGehee School|access-date=2025-07-15}}</ref> The last building, at 2318 St. Charles Avenue, which became the school's property in 2014, was to be made into a preschool facility.<ref name=Langenhennigbuildings/>
==Athletics== McGehee School athletics competes in the LHSAA.
== Academics == McGehee's covers grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The school has a liberal arts education with STEM, humanities, and the arts. There are Advanced Placement (AP) courses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All Girls, Private High School in New Orleans {{!}} Independent Prep School |url=https://www.mcgeheeschool.com/student-experience/course-catalog |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=www.mcgeheeschool.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Notable alumni==
*Charlotte Cooksey, retired American judge from Baltimore, Maryland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charlotte M. Cooksey |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/011800/011899/html/11899bio.html |access-date=10 June 2025 |website=Maryland.gov}}</ref> *Madeline Haikala, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dahan |first1=Mia |date=13 April 2017 |title=McGehee student inspired by Founder's Day speakers |url=https://www.nola.com/archive/mcgehee-student-inspired-by-founders-day-speakers/article_ca8dd76f-d573-585e-b16d-66b05f6e62dd.html |access-date=10 June 2025 |work=NOLA.com |publisher=Times-Picayune |quote="The next recipient, Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala-- Class of '82, was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2013 as a U.S. District Judge."}}</ref>
== References ==
=== Bibliography === * Evans, Eli N. ''The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South''. University of North Carolina Press, 1973; rpt. 1977, 2005. {{ISBN|0807876348}}, 9780807876343. * Merrill, Ellen C. ''Germans Of Louisiana''. Pelican Publishing, 2005. {{ISBN|1455604844}}, {{isbnt|9781455604845}}. * ''New Orleans City Guide'' (1938) Works Progress Administration. Re-published by the Garrett County Press, 2011. {{ISBN|189105340X}}, {{isbnt|9781891053405}}.
=== Citations === {{Reflist}} {{New Orleans High Schools}} {{Girls' schools in Louisiana}}
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Category:Private K–12 schools in New Orleans Category:Girls' schools in Louisiana Category:Independent Schools Association of the Southwest Category:Educational institutions established in 1912 Category:1912 establishments in Louisiana Category:Segregation academies in Louisiana