Holy Name of Jesus School has completed a $10.3 million expansion of its Uptown New Orleans campus, adding 26,471 square feet of new classroom, athletic and arts space to the historic 1932 building at 6325 Cromwell Place. The three-story addition includes a full-size gymnasium, an indoor running track, ten early childhood classrooms, art and music studios and a concession stand, giving the century-old parish school facilities it never had room for before.
The project, first reported by New Orleans CityBusiness, grew well beyond its original scope. According to the Holy Name of Jesus School capital campaign page, the Foundations for the Future effort started with a $5 million fundraising target meant to cover a new early childhood wing, but donor response was strong enough that the goal was raised to $7 million and ultimately $9 million was collected. That surge in giving, paired with a $4.2 million construction loan the School Board and Finance Council secured for a 12-year repayment term, let administrators build the full gymnasium right away instead of pushing it to a later phase.
Inside the New Three-Story Wing
The ground floor now houses the ten early childhood classrooms that serve the school's Little Gators and PK3 programs, per the seed facts in CityBusiness's reporting. The second floor contains the full-size gymnasium and concession stand, while the third floor holds art and music studios along with an elevated running track overlooking the gym below. An ADA-compliant elevator and restrooms on multiple floors round out the new construction, which was designed by Mathes Brierre Architects.
Construction broke ground in spring 2025 and wrapped up in summer 2026, with Ryan Gootee General Contractors serving as general contractor on the build. The firm, which was named one of New Orleans CityBusiness's Best Places to Work for the 12th consecutive year in 2026 according to a Ryan Gootee General Contractors post, has handled several major institutional projects around the city, including historic renovations. Students got to put their own mark on the build early on: in April 2024, kids brought soil from their homes to pour onto the construction site before crews poured the concrete slab, a moment documented in a Ryan Gootee General Contractors video that also showed earlier work including test pile driving and structural steel erection.
A Campus Built on a Decades-Old Partnership
The expansion sits on the Loyola University New Orleans campus, reflecting ties between the two institutions that date back years. Holy Name took over operations of Loyola's Whelan Daycare Center in 2021, folding it into what became the Little Gators early childhood program now housed in the new wing's first floor, according to Loyola University New Orleans. In January 2022 the two formally announced a strategic partnership giving Holy Name's elementary students access to university STEM labs, media studios and athletic facilities.
The push toward early childhood education also reflects archdiocesan policy. Under a 2014 restructuring by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans that took effect for the 2015-2016 school year, parish elementary schools were required to add pre-kindergarten programs and cap enrollment at 7th grade, shifting 8th-grade students exclusively into Catholic high schools, per Wikipedia. That policy helps explain why schools like Holy Name have leaned so heavily into expanding early childhood capacity rather than upper grades.
Honoring 135 Years of History
Holy Name of Jesus School traces its roots to September 1891, when it was founded by Jesuit Fr. Joseph Gerlach. The Sisters of Mercy took over administration in 1909 and laid the cornerstone for the Cromwell Place campus on July 24, 1932; classes first opened in that building on January 3, 1933, according to the school's history page. The new expansion's main entrance has been designated the Mother McAuley Entrance in honor of the Sisters of Mercy's founder, and the school sold commemorative bricks and pavers to alumni, families and supporters to help pay down construction debt.
The project comes amid a leadership transition at the parish. Rev. Mark E. Thibodeaux, S.J., who helped launch both the capital campaign and the Loyola partnership during his tenure as pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish and School, announced he would step down in April 2026, according to a message posted by Holy Name of Jesus Parish. Thibodeaux said he was transitioning to the Jesuit Novitiate in Denver to help train future pastors, leaving the school's next chapter — including the remaining balance on its 12-year construction loan — to new leadership.
