S/H Chess Team Places 1st in Houston Tournament

This past weekend (November 22nd-24th), the Stuart Hall Chess Team travelled to Houston to compete in two concurrent tournaments: The Jean Troendle Memorial Open and the Houston Open Scholastic.

In the Scholastic Tournament held on Saturday, S/H competed in the K5 division, which consisted of 67 players. All eight of our Knights who competed won at least half of their points, helped our team win the K5 Division.

Doing double duty, two of our Knights also competed in the three-day adult Jean Troendle Memorial event. Kudos to both of these boys for putting in extra work and taking on extra challenges, all while helping their team get a nice travel win!

Our boys all played with great spirit that was recognized by the local parents, coaches, and players. Thank you Knights for representing your school and your state so well on this trip, and thank you especially to the parents who made it all possible!

This was a great team effort in earning this cohort's first team trophy outside of Louisiana. Congratulations to our Chess players and Coach York on bringing home Texas gold!

7 Students Selected for District Honor Choir

Congratulations to all seven men from our Middle School who auditioned for and were accepted into the LMEA District VI Honor Choir.

The District Honor Choir is composed of Middle School students from all over the City. Members must audition for the ensemble. Once accepted, they attend four rehearsals with a guest conductor. A culminating performance then takes place at Loyola University New Orleans. Each year, Stuart Hall's representation has grown and we are so proud to have such talented gentlemen represent our school.

iGiveCatholic Today

Stuart Hall is excited to participate in #iGiveCatholic on Tuesday, December 3. #iGiveCatholic is a 24-hour online giving event mobilizing Catholic donors to come together to support the Catholic community and organizations across the country that shape our souls: our parishes, schools, and nonprofit ministries. Stuart Hall School is proud to be the only Catholic, independent school in the Greater New Orleans area to serve boys in grades PK3-7th, and we hope that you will support our school on #iGiveCatholic Day. Remember, donations made through #iGiveCatholic will count toward your Annual Giving Drive donation, and the first grade to reach 100% participation will receive a class party.

Donate to iGiveCatholic

S/H Celebrates 4 National Merit Semi-Finalists

Congratulations to the four members of our S/H Class of 2015 who were recently named National Merit Semi-Finalists.

2019 Open House

Fall 2019 Athletics

Flag Football

Monday, August 19th

All 5th, 6th and 7th at Audubon in front of the zoo 3:45 - 4:45 pm

Tuesday, August 20th

5th and 6th only at Audubon in front of the zoo 3:45 - 4:45 pm

Wednesday, August 21st

5th and 7th only at school in the gym until 3:45 pm

Cross Country

First practice will be Tuesday, August 20th at Pontiff Playground 3:50 - 4:40 pm

Swimming

First practice will be Wednesday, August 21st at Loyola University pool 3:00 - 4:00 pm

For drop-off and pick-up instructions, please click here.

Please contact me at mwaldron@stuarthall.org or 504-861-1954 ext 240 if you have any questions.

Quinn Rosenstein Receives Benson Leadership Award

Congratulations to Quinn Rosenstein '19 on receiving the 2nd Annual Tom Benson Leadership Award. The Benson Leadership Award recognizes an outstanding Seventh Grade student, who has lived out the mission of Stuart Hall and demonstrated excellent achievement in student leadership. This honor will be bestowed upon a deserving student who best exemplifies leadership, as defined as someone who has given back to his community/contributed to the betterment of his school community and/or city in the likeness of Tom Benson.

Congratulations to Charles Korndorffer '14 on Winning a National Merit Scholarship

Congratulations to Charles Korndorffer '14 on being named a National Merit Scholarship winner. Charles was chosen out of more than 15,000 finalists nationally and will receive a $2,500 scholarship. National Merit Scholarship winners are chosen based on their academic records, scores on two standardized tests, leadership in school and community activities, written essays and recommendations from high school officials, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp. 

GiveNOLA Day Thanks

Thank you for supporting S/H on #GiveNOLA Day!
You helped us raise more than $43,000 and
finish in the top 3% in total dollars gifted.

S/H Quiz Bowl Team Places 2nd

Stuart Hall's Quiz Bowl Team competed in the Brother Martin Quiz Bowl Tournament this past weekend. They went 4-0 in the preliminary rounds and defeated Ursuline Academy in the semifinals. The team advanced to the final round against Lake Castle and finished in 2nd place with an average of 306 points in the six rounds of the tournament. Congratulations to the team for a well-played and intense competition! Thank you to Mrs. Amy Rini and Mrs. Nancy Dunphy for coaching the team.

Stuart Hall Chess Knights Win 3 State Titles

This past Saturday, March 30, The Stuart Hall Chess Team competed in the Louisiana State Scholastic Chess Championship held at Kehoe France School in Metairie. This was a five-round tournament that concludes the scholastic chess season in Louisiana. In a fantastic performance, and coming on the heels of a great City League 4-peat showing earlier this year, our Stuart Hall Knights won the K2 and K4 Team State Champion titles, making this also a 4-peat Title win.

Stuart Hall veteran John Michael Maristany ’22 also won the K4 State Individual Champion Title, making this the 3rd consecutive year that Stuart Hall has produced a State Scholastic Chess Champion in either K2 or K4 (Charlie Avin ’22 having held the title for the past two years).

In the K2 Section, all four Stuart Hall players scored in the top 10 in a field of 45 players. Coming in 4th place, Eli Weber ’24 came in 4th place and Eli Simmons ’24 took 5th place. Dave Vandenweghe ’25 placed in 8th, followed by Parker Rooney ’24 in 10th place (losing to only the 1st and 2nd place finishers). Our Knights beat out rival Lusher on tie breaks with 14.5 points each.

In the very strong K4 section which consisted of 55 players, Stuart Hall dominated to win the 1st place Team title, beating out rival Lusher 16 points to 13.5. Coming in 1st place for the State Championship Title was John Michael Maristany ‘22. This was a strong performance by the team, with Patrick Avin ’23 placing 7th, Austin Janusa ’23 in 8th, Christopher Jennings ’23 in 11th, Mike Graugnard ’23 in 12th, Declan Albro ’22 in 15th, Charlie Avin ’22 in 17th, Race Hughes ’23 in 21st, August Sauska ’23 in 34th, and Grayson Bent ’23 in 48th. This was a banner performance for this strong crew of enthusiastic veterans. 

In the very competitive K6 section, Ryan Avin ’21 had a strong performance, tying for 2nd place  but ultimately placing in 6th based on tie breaks.

We thank Coach Jeff York and volunteer Coach Al Pearson (Ryan ‘21, Patrick ‘23, and Ethan ‘27) for their brilliant coaching efforts.

Congratulations, Knights!

Seventh Grader Places 6th in State Geography Bee

Congratulations to Seventh Grader Parker Alig on placing 6th in the National Geographic Louisiana State Geography Bee.

As Stuart Hall School’s Geography Bee champion, Parker took a written test to qualify for the State Geography Bee. Parker competed in Baton Rouge against the top 100 scoring students from Louisiana. Congratulations, Parker! We are so proud of you.

S/H Summer

You can now register for Jumpstart to Summer (May 29-31) and Competition Basketball Camp (May-July)! Click here for more information and to register.

The Stuart Hall Mini Camp 2019 will be held July 22-26 and July 29-August 2 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. We are in the process or organizing the details but will have a variety of options for students of all ages and their siblings. The rising Pre-School- 2nd Grades will have STEM, Movement, and Creative Arts options, as well as Soccer Shots classes. Lower and Middle School students can look forward to Jump Start programs, writing workshops, and artistic opportunities. Details will come soon! For more information, please contact Ryan Asprion.

Thank You!  ~S/H Summer Camp Staff

Stuart Hall City League Chess Champs

This past weekend (February 16th and 17th), the Stuart Hall Chess Team competed in the "Final 4" Championship rounds of the annual Louisiana Scholastic Chess League "City League" event. Stuart Hall entered four teams—a K2 team, two K4 teams, and a K6 team—and all four teams advanced to the Final 4 after three weekends of competition.

On Saturday, the K2 team (Andrew Amoss ‘24, Robert Amoss ‘24, Parker Rooney ‘24, Eli Simmons ‘24, Dave Vandenweghe ‘25, Eli Weber ‘24) finished in 2nd place out of seven original teams entered. In the semi-final, our Knights defeated Lusher's second team (Lusher Gold) 9.5 to 2.5, to win the right to challenge for 1st place. In the second match, against Lusher's first team (Lusher Blue), our Knights fell 9-3 to win the runner-up title. It was a great run by this team of both veterans and new players, and they did a great job representing Stuart Hall.

Stuart Hall entered two teams in the K4 section, due to having an incredible pool of very strong players. The second team, Stuart Hall White (Grayson Bent ‘23, CJ Encalarde ‘22, Christopher Jennings ‘23, Parker Rooney ‘24, August Sauska ‘23, Dave Vandenweghe ‘25, Mani Vandenweghe ‘23) had an amazing run coming into the Final 4. In the semi-final on Sunday, they were matched up against Stuart Hall Blue (Declan Albro ‘22, Charlie Avin ‘22, Patrick Avin ‘23, Mike Graugnard ‘23, Race Hughes ‘23, Austin Janusa ‘23, John Michael Maristany ‘22, Eli Weber ‘24). Coming in as the 4th seed out of nine teams entered at the beginning of the tournament, SH White fell to their teammates 11.5-.5, and then fell to Metairie Academy 11-1. Stuart Hall Blue, as has been stated, beat Stuart Hall White, earning the right to compete against strong rival Lusher Blue for the Championship. Defeating Lusher 9-3, OUR KNIGHTS WON THE 4TH CONSECUTIVE CITY LEAGUE TITIE, continuing their dominance against other strong rivals. Well done, Knights!

Entering the K6 division for the first time, Stuart Hall K6 (Declan Albro ‘22, Charlie Avin ‘22, Patrick Avin ‘23, Ryan Avin ‘21, Austin Janusa ‘23, John Michael Maristany ‘22) had an uphill battle, coming in as the 5th seed from 10 original teams in qualifiers. In the first match against rising power Lycee Francais, Stuart Hall earned the right to challenge for 1st place by winning 7-5. In the Championship match, our Knights beat Lusher Blue 6.5 to 5.5. The title came down to the last two games, with Ryan Avin very cleverly rescuing a draw from a loss by inducing a stalemate, and Austin Janusa brought us home with a fantastic win. It should be noted that our great Knights were the youngest team entered, with one 5th grader, three 4th graders, and two 3rd graders. What a win!!! 

Coach's Note: As a chess coach, I have taught in more than 30 schools, and have taught a National Champion, a National winning team, and numerous Florida and Louisiana State Champion individuals and teams. Quite simply, I have never had a team this deep in enthusiastic, coachable, and talented players. The way our Knights keep on rolling forward amazes me to no end, and I am very grateful to be their coach. But more than winning, I really love the great character that I see in our players. They are great teammates to each other, excellent sportsmen to the competition, and are resilient when faced with challenges. 

I am also very grateful to the parents, who sacrifice so much of their time so that our Knights can compete in these events. Most especially, I am grateful to Al "Opa" Pearson, grandfather to some of the Knights of Avin, who has steadfastly transported and minded the Avin boys and their cousin Owen, for over 4 years now, back and forth to Panera, where they have had the most hours of practice, and to Nationals for long weekends filled with much waiting around. Without Al's steady support, we would not have gotten as far as we have. Thank You, Al! Thank You Chess Parents! Thank you to all of our great chess players who continue to justify my belief in their ability to excel, even when they think they are failing and feel momentarily discouraged. We don't always win, but we keep getting better, because of your determination to persevere and your joy of competition.

 - Coach Jeff