The La Salle Story

Being a La Sallian school, SPI has as part of its heritage the inspiring story of its founder, John Baptist De La Salle. This story is shared with hundreds of other La Sallian schools around the world, and is proudly re-told here.

John Baptist De La Salle was born into a wealthy family in Rheims, France on 30th April 1651. When a young man, he felt God's call to set up schools to provide free education for children, especially those too poor to pay fees. To accomplish his dream, he threw in his lot with a small band of untrained teachers. La Salle gave up his wealth and position to form them into the best teachers of the time.

This group of teachers he called: the La Salle Brothers. It was their sincere desire to be brothers to each other, and brothers to the young people they taught. La Salle saw in the schools an opportunity to broaden the horizons of these young people, most of whom were neglected, poor and rebellious. He was one of the greatest pioneers of education for ordinary people, first in France and then the rest of the world.

Although beset with many difficulties, La Salle persevered, and the La Salle brothers set up schools throughout the world, making his dream of free education a reality. La Salle died at the age of 68 on the 7th of April 1719. He was beatified 19 February 1888 and canonized on 24 May 1900.

Today there are 6000 Brothers and 70,000 La Sallian teachers serving in 1000 educational institutions around the world, carrying on John Baptist de La Salle’s work into the twenty-first century. In honor of him, La Salle schools all over, including SPI, celebrate Founder's Day on 15th May to remember his contributions to the field of education worldwide.