First special education class to open in Athlone's Marist College this year
The first Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) class at the Marist College in Athlone is expected to open this September, after the Department of Education gave the green light for it to be accommodated in a new modular building at the school.
Principal Michael Dermody also said plans for a new school development at the Marist College are "moving in the right direction" with a design team set to be appointed to the project within the next week or two.
On March 22, the Department of Education signalled that a modular building would be put in place at the existing school this year.
"There is one ASD class opening in September. The Department are providing a modular building that can take two classes, and the reason why they're doing that is probably looking towards the future," explained Mr Dermody.
"The bigger picture here is that the new school building will have four SEN (special educational needs) classes in it, so we are working towards that."
The Marist College currently has an enrolment of 584 students, which will rise to more than 600 in September.
The school's principal said its board of management had been seeking to add a special educational needs class for some time now.
"The board was always very open to it, but the problem was space. We didn't have any area within the school that could be converted into the special needs class that was required.
"We are now working towards an opening in September of what will be the first ASD class in the school. A lot of schools are opening these classes, and they always speak of how much it enhances the whole school. So we are certainly looking forward to it.
"This is something that there is a need for in the locality, and we are happy to be in a position now, through the provision of this building, to help go some way towards meeting that need."
In recent years the Marist College has been starting to plan for the development of a new school building that would be put in place on a different area of its existing site on Retreat Road.
Mr Dermody said there was some good news on that front, after a tendering process for the appointment of a design team to the project closed late last year.
"The Department are now finalising the appointment of the design team. We expect that the design team will be finalised in the next week or two, which is a very positive step," he said.
"The design team is made up of four disciplines: Architectural, quantity surveying, mechanical engineering, and civil and structural engineering.
"When the design team has been appointed, they will meet with the school to kickstart an overall design for it, and get that up and running. So it's moving in the right direction," said Mr Dermody.
Three different designs or concepts for the new Marist College are due to be drawn up by the design team.
From these three options, the Department of Education and the school will then choose one that will be put forward in a planning application to Westmeath County Council.