LaSalle and Jackson: the Converted High Schools

1964 – present

LaSalle: LaSalle High School opened in 1966 — its dedication program of that year survives in Indiana Memory, and its student newspaper's second volume is dated 26 September 1966. It was named for René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who portaged at the bend of the river in December 1679 (the Before the City section carries the portage). Under Plan Z the school closed as a high school and was converted into LaSalle Academy, the intermediate academy for grades five through eight that it remains. The corporation dates the conversion to 2004; a history of its band program gives 2002 as the high school's closing year. Both dates stand in the record and are carried.

Jackson: Andrew Jackson High School was built in 1964 and opened in 1965 at 5001 South Miami Street, at Jackson Road, on the city's south side; its first class graduated in 1967. Its high-school life was ten years: in 1975 the building became the Andrew Jackson Intermediate Center and its high-school students merged into Riley, the joining carried in the Riley entry. The building never left the ladder: it stands open today as Jackson Middle School, enrolling about 537 students in 2024–25.

Sources:

1. Indiana Memory / Michiana Memory (St. Joseph County Public Library) — the LaSalle dedication program of 1966 and the student newspaper of 26 September 1966.
2. The corporation's records and the Plan Z accounts — the LaSalle conversion to LaSalle Academy, dated 2004 by the corporation, with the band program's history giving 2002 for the high school's closing.
3. National Center for Education Statistics, 2024–25 — Jackson Middle School open at 5001 South Miami Street, enrollment about 537.
4. The schools' standard reference records — Jackson built 1964, opened 1965, first graduation 1967, converted 1975; LaSalle's namesake and opening.