Kavanagh College - Kavanagh College (1989)

Kavanagh College (1989)

In 1989 a new Catholic co-educational school, Kavanagh College, began operations on the site of St Pauls' High School, the Christian Brothers Junior School, and the old St Dominic's College, these three sites being adjacent to each other. (?) The college was named after the fourth Catholic Bishop of Dunedin John Patrick Kavanagh (Bishop, 1957–1985). Kavanagh College resulted from the amalgamation of Moreau College for girls and St Paul's High School for boys. The senior classes of St Edmund's School (i.e. years 7 and 8) transferred to the new college. The junior classes (Years 5 and 6) were accommodated in Dunedin Catholic primary schools and St Edmund's closed. (?) The religious orders of Dominican Sisters, Christian Brothers, and the Sisters of Mercy were the teaching foundation of the amalgamation. Brother Vincent Innocent Jury CFC was appointed as the first principal of the new college. He was the last of the 23 Christian Brother Principals to exercise authority in Rattray Street in the 115 years from 1876 to 1991.

Kavanagh college is therefore a large central city co-educational school which serves the entire city of Dunedin as the only Catholic secondary school in that city. It is an integrated school with a "special character" in terms of the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975. This special character is broadly the connection of the school with the Catholic faith. Preference of enrolment is given to students who have established a link with the Catholic Church through baptism or membership of a parish. Preference is decided by the appropriate parish priest in each case. A preference certificate from the student's parish is required for each student with their application for enrolment at the school. Under the Act, the school may enrol "non-preference" students but the enrolment of such students is restricted to 5% of the total roll. The College does not have an enrollment scheme which means that there is no restriction on enrollment because of residence. The main contributing schools to the college are the Catholic parish schools of Dunedin. Enrolments come from both urban schools and rural schools.