Little Angels School: Past, Present and Future

Up until 1980 there was no educational facility in Co.Donegal to cater for children who had a moderate learning disability. Little Angels School, through the work of a number of very dedicated people, who themselves had children with special needs, was founded. It opened in a three bedroomed house in the Ballyraine estate and catered for up to 40 pupils during this period. Pupils came from all over the county, many of them staying in two hostels (which were also founded by the same dedicated group), to avail of the specialized education offered.

Finally after trojan work and endless fundraising throughout the years, the current building was officially opened by the then Minister for Education Mary O'Rourke in 1989. The school has developed from being a two teacher school with one special needs assistant to the school that it is today - a school with 21 classes, 22 teachers, with 44 special needs assistants as well as three part-time teachers from the V.E.C., bringing the total staff to 63. The school caters for pupils with moderate, severe and profound learning difficulties and pupils with Autism ranging in age from 3-18 years.

In September 2012 we opened the first of two pre-school classes offering high quality early intervention for 3-5 year old children with a diagnosis of Autism. We now have over 100 pupils and a new school building will begin constuction in 2020. It will be a state of the art school, a thoroughly modern facility. It will be an exciting chapter in our history and will be, as always, dedicated to providing the best possible education for children with special needs.