Paul D'Astoli
From the desk of founding Principal – Paul D’Astoli
It nearly didn’t happen
It was September 1985. I was appointed Principal of the new Nazareth College in Noble Park North. Immediately I began working with the College Board and the Parish Priests to plan for the College to open in 1986.
In the beginning, I worked as Deputy Principal at Presentation College Windsor. Upon my appointment at Nazareth, I resigned from this position and had two staff join me at Nazareth.
The archbishop at the time – Archbishop Little, had given permission for Nazareth to commence in 1986. However, he was concerned about the Parishes’ – St Gerard’s, St Elizabeth’s, and St Simons – ability to support the new school financially.
As a result of this, in early November, the Archbishop withdrew his permission for the school. This decision came as a shock to me. The Priests assured me not to worry as the archbishop would once again change his mind provided the Parishes and St John’s College Dandenong would contribute funding for capital support of the College for the first five years.
That is what happened, and Nazareth College started full of hope. The rest is history.
Some highlights from the D’Astoli Era:
1986 Classes commence on 10 February
1987 Everyone assembled on the oval for the first flyer over photo, which became a tradition for some time.
1988 Bicentennial year. Some staff and students attended the Brisbane Expo ’88 to celebrate
1989 Bye Bye Birdie was Nazareth’s first musical production.
1990 Our junior debating team won the SIS junior section.
1991 John Sgarioto and Carmela Linette are appointed the first Year 12 School Captains
1992 D block building completed, providing a dedicated Food Tech area
1993 First International exchange with Japanese students visiting Nazareth College.
1994 Nazareth Staff and students visit Japan as part of the exchange program
1995 Tenth Anniversary Mass was celebrated at St Patrick’s Cathedral. The College now has a population of 1100 students.
1996 School Principal Mr Paul D’Astoli leaves Nazareth College