Catholic College Bendigo

Catholic College Bendigo is a Catholic secondary school in the city of Bendigo in Victoria, Australia. About 1800 students attend Catholic College Bendigo's two sites. 200 teachers staff the College.La Valla Site is located in Junortoun and provides education for Years 7–9, while the Coolock Site in the CBD of Bendigo provides education for Years 10-12 Victorian Certificate of Education. Another campus is currently being planned for West Bendigo to cater for the increasing population of Bendigo and the increasing demand for places within Catholic College's two present sites.The current principal, Mr. Darren McGregor, was appointed in 2004. The deputy principal, who is in charge of the La Valla site is Mr. John Ferris. The deputy principal in charge of Coolock is Mr. Michael Chalkley. The deputy principal in charge of staff is Ms. Giselle Talbot.HistoryThere are two central founders of Catholic College Bendigo. The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Bendigo in 1876, and set up a school on Wright Street (Now the Coolock site). The Marist Brothers arrived in Bendigo in 1893. The founders of these orders, Marcellin Champagnat and Catherine McAuley are considered the founders of Catholic College Bendigo.In 1955, the site at La Valla was opened for boarding boys as 'St Vincent's College'. Due to declining boarders, the school opened to day pupils in 1972.In 1983, the two schools run by the Mercy Sisters and the Marist brothers combined, to make a co-educational school. It was also renamed Catholic College Bendigo. By 1988, the school had two sites - La Valla and Coolock, which are the current two sites.An ongoing process of refurbishment has been running since the late 1990s—in 1998, the Junortoun quadrangle was refurbished. In 2004, Wright Street, which runs through Coolock was bought by the school and closed, which led to a large refurbishment of the area to face the road. In 2005, the Coolock Arts building was refurbished. In 2006, work on a new Technology Building at La Valla began. It was completed in 2007.