J J Cahill Memorial High School


J J Cahill Memorial High School is a public co-educational secondary day school, located on Sutherland Street in Mascot, an inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The school is operated by the NSW Department of Education with students from Year 7 to Year 12. The school was established in 1961 as a comprehensive high school, named in honour of John Joseph Cahill, the local member and Premier of New South Wales.

History

In the late 1950s, as a result of lobbying from the local council, residents and the local member for Cook's River and premier, John Joseph Cahill, it was decided to establish a high school in Mascot. Owing to delays in construction, the school was not finished until 1961, two years after Cahill's death in office in October 1959.
At the time, the first few intakes of the new high school were housed at Gardeners Road Public School. When the school finally was ready for use, the students carried their books and furniture to the new school site down the road, an event which was commemorated at the school's 50th anniversary in 2011. In memory of Cahill's efforts to bring public education to the local area, the school decided that it was to be named in his honour. Accordingly, "J J Cahill Memorial High School" was officially opened by his widow, Esmey Cahill, on 24 March 1961. The first Principal was Landolf George Schmidt.
Following a financial contribution of $3 million from the Sydney Ports Corporation as part of the Port Botany Development Project, the school built a new gymnasium, which was officially opened on 7 May 2010 by Premier Kristina Keneally in the presence of the principal Robyn Cowin and the Minister for Ports and Waterways, Paul McLeay.

Principals


YearsPrincipal
1961–1975Len Schmidt
1975–1979Keith Cohen
1980–1985John Nolan
1986–1989Tom Symonds
1990–1998Evan MacKenzie
1999–2005Lim Linton
2006–2016Robyn Cowin
2017–dateRalph David

Notable alumni and staff

;Staff