St Rita's Catholic Primary School opened in 1993 with 92 pupils from Preschool to Year 2. The school opened with five full-time staff and four part-time staff, and increased enrolments to 123 by the end of the year. Those first students, and many of the first staff members, have now journeyed beyond St. Rita's, and second generation of families are now seeking enrolment into our community of 540 students.
The community of St. Rita's has been founded by the enthusiasm for learning and hospitality of the Augustinian Fathers. Father Gerard Dullard was the first Parish Priest of St. Rita's, and Mrs Rhonda Thornton was the first Principal of the School. They worked together to build the school until Fr. Gerard McMorrow replaced Fr. Gerard Dullard in 1995, and the partnership between parish and school development continued.
At the end of 2001 Mrs Thornton moved to St. Martin's Carina and Mr Steve Dunne was appointed as the second Principal of St. Rita's School. Mr Dunne led the school through to 2009 with Ms Anne McKenny leading the school from 2010 to 2016.Our current principal is Mrs Carolyn Watson.
The community developed the school logo and motto of "knowledge, truth, and love" in 1992. This gave the school clear direction and vision for their mission. A mission statement was formulated in 1994. It emphasises a basis of Christian values within a caring community, which nurtures the potential and uniqueness of each individual. The Mission Statement was re-developed in 2015 to include the phrase 'we come to school each day to: Know More, Do More, Be More, in line with the development of a school wide pedagogy. In 2022 a new vision and mission statement was created along with a new motto of love, hope, faith and service. The new vision, mission and motto are reflective of scripture 'work of faith, labour of love and service, promise of hope'
(taken from 1 Thessalonians 1:3).