11 December 2020

After 96 years of serving the Catholic education community of Ormond, the school bell at St Kevin’s School will ring for the final time.

The school first opened in 1924 with an enrolment of 51 students from Prep to Year 8, staffed by two Presentation Sisters. Ninety-six years later, the final cohort of students and their families gathered to celebrate the end of an era. As much as it was a night of endings, it was also a night of celebration with the tight-knit community enjoying a meal together.

The school’s principal, Nigel Rodrigues, paid tribute to the current students and staff, as well as all those who have gone before. ‘I want to say thank you and congratulate all of you on being an amazing community, and thank the families who have made a commitment to this school and the education of their children’, he said. ‘As much as this is a sad night, it’s also a very special night that we share together as a community.’

Each family was presented with an olive tree as a living memento of the school community. Students also created a time capsule to be housed in the St Kevin’s Church and opened in 2045. The world will certainly look very different by then, but the spirit of the St Kevin’s School community will last a very long time.