Athlone Community College to mark 50 years in current location this week

Athlone Community College will celebrate 50 years at its site in Retreat Road this week.

The celebration, taking place on Thursday afternoon, April 3, will welcome local representatives and previously employed staff members, as staff and students reflect on the school's success over the past half century.

Students will also take part in the burial of a time capsule, intended to give students in the future a glimpse into what Athlone Community College life was like in 2025.

Athlone Community College has also created a generational tree with the help of students, who made family trees of relations that attended the school over the years.

Teacher Serena McDermott said: "We will be taking a walk down memory lane, celebrating both the past and the present achievements of the school, and all the changes that it has gone through. We want to show how the school has evolved throughout the years."

The school, originally called Athlone Vocational School, was located in Northgate Street before relocating to the newly-built school in Retreat Road in 1974. The building opened on the new site for the academic year 1975-1976, and first catered for just 500 students.

In 2008, the Department of Education gave approval for the building of a new school building on the Retreat Road site, with the current school building opened in 2014. The school now has over 1,200 students, and employs over 120 teaching staff.