History of St. Saviour’s N.S.

The school was founded in 1825 by The Kildare Place Society. It was set up to educate the children of the Church of Ireland parish of Rathdrum who were mainly the children of local farmers and business people. The original school was located off the Main Street in Rathdrum, behind what used to be The Central Shop. In 1831 the school received an endowment from the Erasmus Smith Board enabling it to buy equipment. In 1883 after agreeing to conform to certain rules, the school became a National School and was called The Number 2 School. The school operated from the Old School’s premises and generations of children were educated there. In 1825 there were 51 pupils on the role. Principals of the school at this time were Samuel Mc Kee, Issac Saul & Samual Dowzer. In the 1950s the Church of Ireland School at Ballinatone closed and the pupils from it came to Number 2 School in Rathdrum. Principals who taught in the school in more recent times  were Mr. Fitch, Mrs. Marjorie Sutton & Mrs. Noreen  Barry. It was during the time when Mrs. Barry was  principal that the new school was built on a site on Station Road, with vigorous fundraising being done by the school families to raise funds for the local contribution towards the new school building. The new St. Saviour’s School was officially opened in 1984.

While the school was originally set up to educate the children of Church of Ireland families, over the decades children of other faiths have attended the school. At present there are children of different nationalities, faiths and traditions, attending St. Saviour’s. This diversity greatly enriches the educational experience the school offers.