Rosary School is a Catholic Parish Primary School and caters for just over 450 children. In 2022, 63% of our students came from a Catholic background. While 96% of our students were born in Australia, culturally we come from 25 different nationalities.
Many of today’s students are children, grandchildren or relatives of former students providing testimony to the fine name that Rosary School maintains.
The school offers very modern facilities across classroom, specialist and administration areas.
In 1885 The Catholic Endowment Society purchased land from Thomas Mitchell and in 1907 Lots 10 and 11 were transferred to the Dominican Fathers for the purpose of a New School Church.
Rosary School was dedicated to the Holy Rosary and was solemnly opened and blessed on 8th August 1908.
It was staffed by the Dominican Sisters who would travel daily from the Convent in North Adelaide to provide instruction.
Messrs Woods & Bagot were the Architects and the Builder was Mr J T Leahy and they built the School Hall in 1918.
Rosary School was also a school church. It became a church on Friday afternoons when the older children had to help the sisters sweep the school (after spreading damp sawdust to keep the dust down), and shift the heavy desks. Rosary has educated Junior Primary, Primary and Secondary students since its opening. It has been the Parish worship centre, sacristy, youth club, assembly area, community centre and multi use school hall.
In the 2022 School Master Plan, the School Hall was reimagined as a community gathering space and Grieve Gillett Architects have included design elements in the new building and yard area to honour the history of Rosary School.
While the Dominican Sisters began our school, over time more and more lay teachers were employed. In 1984 the school appointed its first lay Principal. The Dominican Sisters no longer have a physical presences in our school but spiritually they have left us with a school ethos based on the Dominican traditions.
The Sisters established an excellent spirit in true Dominican tradition:
Rosary School has continued to offer education within this spirit of St Dominic since the appointment of the first lay Principal in 1984.
