Cecilia High School (CHS) is a 4A public secondary school located in Cecilia, an unincorporated community in Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. Cecilia High School is accredited by the Department of Education of the State of Louisiana and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Founded in 1922, Cecilia High School is one of three public high schools administered by the Saint Martin Parish School District. Cecilia High School primarily serves students of northern upper Saint Martin Parish including the communities of Arnaudville, Cecilia, and Henderson. School's beginnings The unincorporated community of Cecilia was originally known by early Spanish settlers as "La Punta", describing the deep bend in the Bayou Teche; eventually this was translated over time by the French into "La Grande Pointe." Pierre Guidry, a native of Acadia, Nova Scotia and the first settler of Cecilia, acquired three tracts of land from Mrs. Joseph Alexander Declouet in 1791. Following suit, other families settled on lands that was acquired by Declouet through a Spanish land grant dated May 16, 1772, which included some of land. The community began as a small service center of sorts for the many landowners in outlying areas surrounding the Bayou Teche. As families settled within the area, educational needs of the children was evident yet insufficient. Before the establishment of a public high school in Cecilia, several private schools operated within the community with only a fortunate few enrolled; primarily children of local affluence. As trade and commerce grew within the small steamboat stop along the Bayou Teche, the need for a public school was clearly evident. Headmistress of the first public, free tuition school in the community was under the supervision of Mrs. A. P. Lastrapes (the former Marie De La Croix) in the St. Joseph Chapel around 1893. Lastrapes also served as postmistress for the town - originally named LaPlace - but due to confusion with another town of the same name in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, the community was renamed. Due to the predominantly Roman Catholic population of the area in addition to Lastrapes' love of music, the naming of the community was in honor of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Continued growth in student enrollment spurred the construction of a two-story, four room wooden structure on land purchased by Mr. Joel Dupuis on the eastern bank of the Bayou Teche in preparation for the 1905-1906