Catholic Education South Australia has announced the unification of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish School and Mount Carmel College to form a new R-12 College.
From 2022, the Reception to Year 12 College will operate across the current sites at Pennington and Rosewater and will be known as Mount Carmel College. Mr John Konopka will be the Principal.
“We are pleased to be strengthening Catholic schooling on the Le Fevre Peninsula,” says Professor Denis Ralph, Chair, South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools.
“The Commission has made this decision following extensive consultation with the families and staff at both schools, the parish and the wider community. There was strong support for the establishment of what will be the first Reception to Year 12 Catholic co-educational college in the north-west of Adelaide.”
The existing schools cater for almost 900 students between them and are both growing in enrolments. The R-12 college is projected to expand to cater for 1150 students by 2030.
This expansion follows the exciting announcement in April this year that Catholic Education SA will partner with the State Government to establish the Western Technical College as a campus of Mount Carmel College.
“With the Western Technical College opening in 2021, students will have extraordinary opportunities to gain VET qualifications in high demand industries such as maritime and defence,” explains Principal, John Konopka.
“The College will provide an exceptional educational pathway for students in the north-western suburbs.”
“We believe that this collaborative approach will strengthen our educational offerings and will further improve student learning and wellbeing.”
Acting Principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish School, Mrs Jenny DeGilio, also welcomed the announcement.
“This is great news for our primary students as they will have greater access to facilities and resources. The R-12 College will also offer a single enrolment process for families and a smoother transition to secondary education.
“Students will benefit as we will be able to offer even more collaboration and continuity in our teaching and pastoral care.”
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish School opened in 1909, and Mount Carmel College in 1940. Both schools share a Josephite Tradition and are located half a kilometre apart.
The announcement is part of the broader commitment to strengthen Catholic Education pathways across the State. Catholic Education SA also announced back in February that Galilee Catholic School will become a campus of Cardijn College from 2021.
This also follows recent commitments to open a new campus of Xavier College at Two Wells in 2021 and a new Catholic Secondary College in the Riverland in 2022.
Two students from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Enfield, have been named among the winners in the 2020 Premier’s Anzac Sprit School Prize Competition.
Year 10 student Mia Tsimouris and Year 9 student Lara Nguyen were recognised for their prize-winning entries in the state-wide competition.
