Historic Black Catholic school in Louisiana getting new classrooms amid restoration efforts

The historic Holy Rosary Institute is gaining new life, three years after restoration efforts began on the century-old Black Catholic school building in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Prime Time Head Start and Early Head Start, a federally sponsored pre-K program, has announced plans to build new classrooms at the site, which has been dormant since the school was closed in 1993.

“We are excited to add our partnership with Prime Time Head Start to the many positive developments happening at Holy Rosary,” said Dustin Cravins, board president for Holy Rosary Redevelopment, which was founded in 2010. 

“This investment strengthens our commitment to creating a brighter future for the community and ensuring Holy Rosary continues to be a place of growth and opportunity.”

The project is slated to include four classrooms that will accommodate 60 students. The space, which does not yet have a completion date, is set to complement an existing Prime Time campus at the former Immaculate Heart of Mary School (IHM), another Black Catholic institution less than a mile from Holy Rosary.

It is the first major news for the Holy Rosary campus since redevelopment began in earnest in 2021, following years of delays. A half-million-dollar grant from the state helped jumpstart the efforts, with an additional $4 million distributed in the years since.

Advocates are currently working to restore the main building of the former school—founded by the German-born Divine Word priest Fr Philip Keller and the Sisters of the Holy Family, the nation’s second-oldest surviving order of Black nuns.

Founded in Galveston, Texas, Holy Rosary moved to Lafayette in 1913 and served as a boarding high school for Black girls in Acadiana until shifting to co-education in 1947. Rising costs brought a day-school format in 1974. Less than twenty years later, despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the school was shuttered due to falling enrollment and has since fallen into disrepair.

The return of students to the historic campus is seen as a recognition of the school’s storied history, which includes alumni such as the late Black Catholic activist Fred Prejean Sr.

“Much like our center at IHM, this is a unique opportunity for Prime Time to be part of the revitalization of an important educational institution in Lafayette,” said Miranda Restovic, president and executive director of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, which operates Prime Time.

“It's a revitalization, a resurgence,” Cravins told local news station KATC in November. “To see these young people back on this historic campus is truly heartwarming."

Support for the redevelopment efforts at Holy Rosary are not limited to the Prime Time expansion. A golf fundraiser held in November attracted more than 90 local golfers and featured a performance from zydeco artist David Sylvester.

According to the Holy Rosary Redevelopment website, the organization hopes to eventually construct an African-American library and research lab on the campus, as well as a health and social services facility. Restoration of the former school’s Catholic chapel is also planned.

The group is actively seeking volunteers for its work, and interested parties can sign up online.

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

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