St Thomas’ JNS began its life in 1974 with 3 teachers and 71 children, in a prefab erected on the site where St Patrick’s Church stands today. In 1976 the new school building opened. Hillcrest Estate was just built. There were cornfields all around and there was no motorway, no Superquinn, no shopping centre, no College, no roundabout and no Tesco. Anna May Mc Kiernan was the principal and her deputy was Dolores Mc Grath.
By the mid 1990’s, the school had grown to 8 mainstream classes (280 pupils) with one support teacher. Mr Maher became principal in 2000, He was ably assisted by 3 deputies ie Dolores Mc Grath, Maura Egan and Lorraine Murray. The school went through a period of huge growth and development in the next 2 decades. We grew from 12 classes to 20. Special education in mainstream schools was a national focus at this time . This led to the development of our SET team, combined of teachers and SNAs. Also children from a variety of countries joined our school community. These new families greatly enriched our school culture by sharing their own culture with us. Intercultural week has become an annual event which is enjoyed by all. Extra teachers were appointed to support children whose first language was not English.
Today our school continues to grow and change. We now have over 550 pupils and a staff of 46. Our current principal is Teresa Moynihan and her deputy is Russell Coleman. We are currently in the process of seeking a school extension/rebuild to cater for the growing needs of our school. We look forward to the next exciting chapters of our story.