Back to the books after fire forced €2m refurbishment
IT WAS more than just the start of a new school year for the students and staff of St Louis Secondary School in Dundalk, Co Louth, yesterday.
The school is welcoming back new and returning students to its now refurbished campus after a fire in May, just weeks before the Leaving and Junior Cert exams, meant they had to totally vacate the site.
The 500 students and staff relocated to Dundalk Institute of Technology and their State exam years sat papers there rather than in the familiar surrounds of their school.
The fire, which started accidentally, destroyed technology projects for the Leaving Cert students.
School principal Michelle Dolan said: “In the end we had enough digital evidence from the teacher, who had kept records the whole way through from the start to the end, and the SEC (State Examination Commission) came up with the chief examiner and went through all the evidence and through all the records so the students got what they deserved.”
She said the fire had resulted in “incredible good will” towards the school.
It is estimated that the Department of Education has spent more than €2m to replace the destroyed classrooms and it also has a new “big tech suite and art room”.
The school reopened its doors to fifth years yesterday and will have welcomed back the remaining students by the end of this week.