Welcome to
St Louis Secondary School
Welcome to
St Louis Secondary School
Monaghan.
Principal Ms Margaret Conlon
I am delighted to welcome you onto our school website to see just a flavour of what we offer here in St Louis Secondary School, Monaghan.
In St. Louis Secondary School we provide a holistic education, striving for excellence in academic achievements and extra-curricular activities. We pride ourselves on an excellent pastoral system which focuses on student wellbeing in an inclusive environment, where we encourage and motivate students to achieve their full potential. Our results in the state examinations bear testimony to the teaching & learning opportunities provided for our students. Our Leaving Certificate results exceed the national average annually and this is due to an excellent partnership with teachers, students and parents.
In St. Louis Secondary School we have a very proud tradition of education in Monaghan and we continue to celebrate our past and move forward with hope and ambition for the future as we prepare our girls for the 21st Century.
Ms Margaret Conlon,
Principal.
Welcome to
St Louis Secondary School
Our School Mission Statement
Our school recognises the each pupil who enrols is unique and has different gifts, as well as different needs.
It is our wish that our pupils leave us with enhanced self-confidence, and with life skills and attitudes, which enable them to lead lives which may contribute to the betterment of society.
We recognise that a pupil's development is closely linked to a good self-image, and so we strive to present the school's total curriculum in such a manner as to allow all to realise their full potential.
We see ourselves as working in partnership with parents, to develop the gifts and to meet the needs of all.
We regard our school as an educational establishment characterised by care and justice.
Chaplaincy
School Chaplaincy:
We are very lucky in St. Louis to have a school chaplain, Fr. Stephen Joyce.
Fr. Joyce works with the Religion Department in promoting the Faith Formation of our students and offers an enormous amount of support to all our students.
You can make contact with the Chaplaincy Services in St. Louis at 047 81422.
The School Chaplain:
The primary responsibility of the school chaplain is to provide the spiritual support to school community in which they are based. This involves bringing a 'faith-presence' to their role in the school. The chaplain works with the staff in carrying out this role within the school community, which extends to the wider parish community.
This role varies from teaching Transition Year modules, organising prayer services / Masses with the RE Department, school retreats, meeting students on an individual basis, working closely with the pastoral care team in the school.
The Chaplain's priority is to treat students with respect and dignity in all situations within and beyond the school.
The Chaplain will exercise their Pastoral role by:
- Providing personal contact with individual students.
- By class contact - Through Religious worship
- By maintaining an interest in extracurricular activities in the school.
- By getting to know as many individual students as possible personally The Chaplain will exercise their Religious role by:
- Ensuring the provision of liturgies and Para liturgies in the school at the beginning of year, Christmas, Ash Wednesday and the Graduation mass for 6th Years.
- Organising retreats The Chaplain will exercise their role in extracurricular activities by:
- By organising and being available to go on School Trips
- By supporting Charity fundraising - By encouraging young people to get involved in extracurricular activities.
- By being involved in the St. Louis Schools Network and Worldwide Global schools events.
The Chaplain will exercise their role in relation to the staff by:
- Co-operating with the principal and all members of staff
- In keeping with her pastoral role will be available to the staff
- Working closely with the Guidance Counsellors, and Pastoral Care Team.
- Be a member of the Care Team and attend meetings.
The Chaplain will exercise their role in relation to Parents by:
- Being available to parents
- Offering support and encouragement to parents who are in difficulty
Sisters of Saint Louis
The Institute of the Sisters of Saint Louis was founded, by Louis Bautain and Mére Thérése de la Croix, in Juilly, (France) in 1842, to promote the Christian education of the young.
The first Saint Louis Sisters came to Ireland in 1859 at the request of the Bishop of Clogher.
Louis Bautain was a priest, philosopher and academic, who had been personally affected by the turmoil of the French Revolution and the anti-clericalism of his time. He set himself the task of healing the deep and supposedly irreconcilable divisions that existed between faith and reason and between theology and the secular learning of his time. Bautain saw Christian education as the great need of his day, as "the beautiful enterprise".
It was his vision of a "world healed, unified and transformed by the saving wisdom of Christianity" that led Louis Bautain to a lifelong search for unity and truth. His guiding words were Ut Sint Unum, May they all be one. This is part of the crest of every St Louis school worldwide; it shapes the approach to community and partnership in each school, and created the "family spirit" which is so much part of the tradition of St Louis.
Bautain's "beautiful enterprise" of education is at once worldwide and holistic. It created a learning environment in which the Catholic/St Louis identity is balanced with openness to the new and the yet unknown. The international St Louis educational network, to which all St Louis schools belong, helps to promote awareness of different perspectives and to experience interconnectedness. It is our hope that this outlook and this network will continue to develop in the Le Chéile Trust.
Further information on the Sisters of Saint Louis and on the Schools in the St Louis network can be accessed on the St Louis website: www.stlouissisters.org
School History
St. Louis Secondary School is a Catholic Voluntary Secondary School for girls under the Trusteeship of the Sisters of St. Louis.
St. Louis Secondary School derives its ethos from the educational philosophy of the Sisters of St. Louis. Its ethos permeates all disciplines and every extra-curricular activity.
It strives to form a community of students, teachers, ancillary staff and management, which attempts to live by Gospel values, recognizing the dignity of each individual and working for justice and peace in society.
The school was established in 1859 when Sr. Genevieve Beale, Sr. Clemence McCarthy and Sr. Claire O'Sullivan arrived from Juilly, France, equipped, to quote Sr. Claire, 'with lots of books and very little money'.
They opened a small school in No. 8 Mill St., Monaghan. Later that year an old dwelling became vacant at the lakeside, and was acquired by the Sisters.
At the same time they were providing a Primary Education for the local Catholic children in the 'Poor School' in Latlurcan, and later in the Infant and Primary schools on the Broad Road.
In the very early days the sisters looked to provide an education that would equip the children of the locality with basic skills at a time when there were no educational facilities for Catholic girls.
Gradually they introduced a broader, more innovative curriculum. From the very earliest days, the school attracted boarders from all parts of the country.
Subjects were taught through the medium of French. The curriculum always laid emphasis on academic excellence while at the same time honouring the religious, cultural and physical education of the students.
Specialist teachers were employed to give lessons in Music, Choral Work, Elocution, Dancing, and to help with some academic subjects e.g. Latin and Mathematics.
The curriculum also kept in tune with the social and political developments. In 1890, at a time when Irish was not taught in schools, the subject was introduced as 'Celtic' in the school.
In 1895 pupils from the school were the first and only girl candidates to take Irish as a subject in the Junior Examination. In 1925 all subjects were taught through the medium of Irish and the school became a Class A School (Irish Speaking).
With the advent of Free Education in 1967 the school no longer retained its Class A status, but expanded and adapted its curriculum to meet the needs of its increased enrolment and the emerging needs of society.
In 1977 the Boarding School was phased out and the accommodation given over to the Day School.
From small beginnings a school grew; old buildings were renovated and new buildings erected to accommodate the increasing numbers.
Some of these buildings have since been demolished, and the Trustees and Management continue to work to upgrade the accommodation in the school.
The school is a non fee-paying school that is comprehensive in its student population and in its curriculum.
The first Board of Management was established in 1987.
The first lay principal was appointed in 1999.