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Dr. William C. Hambleton, president of La Salle Academy in Manhattan, will be honored the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) with its Secondary Education Award.
The award will be presented at the association’s annual convention April 26-28 in New Orleans.
“I’m delighted that the NCEA recognized all we have accomplished in the last three years,” Dr. Hambleton said.
“Like many Catholic schools, it was not clear whether the school would survive or not. The strategic plan we put in place, which including moving the school, ensured the survival of La Salle, and that is something I am most proud of,” he told CNY.
Archbishop Dolan praised Dr. Hambleton in a letter and referred to his Feb. 16 visit to the school’s new location. “From my own observations during my recent visit to the school, I have no doubt that the NCEA selected wisely in choosing you to be honored,” he wrote.
Dr. Timothy McNiff, archdiocesan superintendent of schools, said the recognition given to Dr. Hambleton is “certainly commensurate with the leadership he has given and continues to give La Salle Academy in New York City.”
“The education that La Salle Academy provides underprivileged students is remarkable; his administrative talents and devotion to La Salle Academy are just as remarkable,” he added.
La Salle Academy was founded in 1848 and serves boys from low-income families from Manhattan and other boroughs. It ran into financial difficulties in recent years, which accelerated in 2008, and was threatened with closing. Through a strategic plan organized by Dr. Hambleton and the board of trustees, the school moved from the building it had occupied on Second Street, leased the property to another school and moved to a building it shares with St. George Academy and St. George elementary school on East Sixth Street.
The deal provided an annual income stream to La Salle and allowed it to retire its debts.
However, the most important aspect of the plan was the continued mission to serve the boys of La Salle, Dr. Hambleton said.
He said that the faculty and students are happy in their new location. “We are in a newer and more functional facility and have very positive relationships with St. George Ukrainian School. We are actually delighted to be in the situation we are in,” he said.
He added, “As we come to the end of our first year in the new space, it has definitely been a success.”
Dr. Hambleton told CNY that he feels the honor is one for the entire La Salle community. He largely credits the board of trustees who worked with him. “I really needed the support of the board,” he said. “If they were not willing to take this risk with me and think outside the box, we would not have been able to pull this off.
“I’m very honored and very happy to receive this on behalf of La Salle,” he said. “We are very proud of our mission to serve the underserved. We have always done that, and it was very important that we continued to serve this population of those in the most need.”
