St. Mary’s Assumption School

School website: www.smsangels.org

Welcome

Welcome to St. Mary’s Assumption School.  We are very proud of our school.  It is located along the beautiful banks of Bayou Rouge in Cottonport, Louisiana.  We provide a warm and friendly environment for students from Pre-K through eighth grades.  We strive to build a well rounded education for our students.   They are provided with excellent academic training as well as extra curricular activities.  Our students are very competitive in Beta Club and 4-H as well as on the football field, basketball court, or softball field.  However, in the center of all of these activities we place our Catholic faith and teachings which leads to success in all other areas.

Parents are encouraged to become involved in all aspects of the education of their children.  We have a strong PTA group which is involved in fundraisers, planning activities for the students, and assisting anytime they are asked.  St. Mary’s has a booster club which is lead by the athletic director.  The parents of the athletes belong to the booster club and help to promote events.  The coaches are parents who willingly volunteer their time and serve as good role models for the students.  We also have “room Mom’s” in each class who help the teachers plan and prepare for classroom activities and parties.

The students attend mass one day each week.  Some of students serve as cantors, lectors, and alter servers.  The students are involved in each of these masses on a rotating basis thus allowing all students an opportunity to serve in some aspect of the mass.

Annual Events

We conduct several events annually.  These include: Parade of Saints (November 1), May Crowning (May), and Graduation for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and eighth grade (May).

How to Enroll

St. Mary’s Assumption School places an article in the local newspaper advising of the date, time and place of registration for the upcoming school year.  An announcement is also placed in the church bulletins of churches located in the surrounding areas.

Pre-registration is conducted in March each year.  At this time parents must have the child’s birth certificate, social security card, and current shot record.  If a student is transferring from another school, we need the name, address and phone number of that school.

Registration is conducted in June each year.  Any students who did not pre-register must present a birth certificate, social security card, and shot record.  A transferring student is required to provide us with the name, address and phone number of the school last attended and any records they may have.  We have registration forms that will be completed during this time.  We also go over the student handbook.

The parents are required to pay only registration fees when they pre-register in March.  At registration in July, parents are required to pay two(2) months tuition, a textbook fee, student insurance, and diocesan fees if they pre-registered in March.  If they did not pre-register, they are required to pay the above and the registration fee.

History

In September of 1947 St. Mary’s Assumption School opened its doors with Msgr. Milburn Broussard as Pastor and Sisters Mary Carmel, James, Isabel, and Kathleen (Dominican Sisters) who came from New Orleans to staff our school.  (This, however, was not the first Catholic school in Cottonport.  From 1898-1917 the Daughters of the Cross operated a school under the name of St. Anthony’s School.  For the next thirty years Catechism classes were held on Saturdays by the pastor, Fr. J. Girards and Miss Ida Couvillion who taught in her home.)

St. Mary’s began with five grades and each year a grade was added until the school consisted of grades K-8.  The parents worked very hard to maintain the school.  Double grades were implemented some years as funds were not available to pay lay teachers.  The Principal taught full time and all secretarial work was done by the Sisters.  Each received a salary of only $50.00 but the parish furnished them with a home (convent) and the people were most generous with transportation (the sisters had no car) and food.

Many fund-raisers had to be held to help defray expenses — bazaars, operettas, piano recitals, raffles, etc.  All of these functions kept the school in operation.

In 1970, however, the Sisters (there were only two left by then) had to make the painful decision to leave Cottonport.  With only 120 students enrolled, the Dominican order felt that these two nuns could be more useful in larger schools.

The school was then staffed with lay teachers who did a terrific job of keeping the school alive and providing our students with the very best in academics, religion, and sports.

In 1991 when Fr. Bill Provosty was assigned to St. Mary’s he was instrumental in getting two Marianites of the Holy Cross nuns and one Sacred Heart nun to work in the school and parish.

Today our staff consists of a principal, a secretary, eleven lay teachers, four lunchroom employees, and one janitor who are dedicated to the education of our students as the sisters were fifty years ago.

Brumfield vs Dodd Policy

In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the following statement is published:

DIOCESE OF ALEXANDRIA NON-DISCRIMINATORY SCHOOL POLICY

August, 2020

The Diocese of Alexandria School System re-affirms its non-discriminatory policy on the basis of race, sex, color, national and ethnic origin in its educational programs, activities and employment policies in accordance with the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments and Sections 4.03(a) and 4.03 (c) Revenue Procedure 75-50. All students, faculty members and staff, without exception, are admitted to all rights, privileges and activities generally accorded or made available at the schools which do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its employment policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs and athletic and other school-administered programs.

Most Rev. Robert W. Marshall, Jr., Bishop of Alexandria

Thomas E. Roque, Sr., Superintendent of Catholic Schools

Staff

Email: principal@stmaryscottonport.com

Blaine Dauzat, Principal

Rev. Charlie Ray, Pastor

Ainsley Mayeaux, Developmental Director

Casey Armand, Secretary