Le Mans Academy

Founded in 1955 as Sacred Heart Military Academy in Watertown, Wisconsin, LeMans Academy was a boarding middle school (grades 5-9) for boys located 90 minutes east of Chicago, Illinois near La Porte, Indiana on 700 acres (2.8 km²) of land. It was sponsored by the Brothers of Holy Cross from the University of Notre Dame.

History

Sacred Heart Military Academy (called SHMA by the students) operated in Watertown Wisconsin until the summer of 1968. After graduating its last class the school was moved to Indiana. The name was changed, in part, because the brothers in Watertown kept receiving applications from the parents of girls.

The last class consisted mostly of boys from the Milwaukee and Chicago areas with a few from Mexico. Student activities included military drills, a rifle range, a large gym, soccer, track, baseball and other sports. The school also had a slot car track and recreation room. The students wore military uniforms every day and a special dress uniform on Sunday. Boys held different ranks and received demerits for bad behavior. Demerits had to be worked off usually by doing laps on the track. Students were not allowed to carry money or to leave the campus. Study halls were held every evening but Sunday for two hours. Daily life was very regimented and students had only about two hours to themselves every day. The last headmaster at SHMA was Brother Carroll Posey. On May 26, 1968, SHMA graduated its' last class of 35 eighth grade students. About 700 people attended. [http://www.watertownhistory.org/Articles/SacredHeart.htm] SHMA had only grades 5-8. The campus is now Maranatha Baptist Bible College. [http://www.watertownhistory.org/Articles/SacredHeart.htm]

With its highest enrollment in years--more than 115 boarding students from across the U.S., Mexico, South Korea, and other nations--Le Mans Academy closed its doors in the spring of 2003 because the Catholic religious order which founded and sponsored the school--the Brothers of Holy Cross, Midwest Province--needed to liquidate an available asset (the Academy's campus was sold and its endowment claimed) to help meet the rising cost of health care for its aging population of religious Brothers. The first lay Headmaster in the Academy's history--Mr. Steven Cash--was also the last Headmaster.

The Campus was purchased by the Legionaries of Christ to open an apostolic school [ [http://www.rickross.com/reference/loc/loc54.html Rickross.com - Catholic order with school in N.H. opens one in Indiana] ]

Famous alumni

*Jesse Jackson Jr.
*John Paxson

References