Doxa School Bendigo opened its doors to students in July 2006 with the support of a partnership between the Doxa Youth Foundation, the Diocese of Sandhurst and the Marist Brothers and under the Governance of the Administrator of St Kilian’s Parish, Fr Rom Hayes.
Doxa School is proudly a Catholic school and lives the values of compassion and service to those that are vulnerable in our community.
Our current school building was officially opened in October of 2006 by our great supporter the late Bishop Joe Grech, Mr Peter Bugden the Deputy Director of Catholic Education in the Sandhurst Diocese, Brother Paul Gilchrist, Provincial of the Marist Brothers Southern Province and Ms Julie Rolfe, CEO of the Doxa Youth Foundation.
Representatives from local and regional businesses, schools and community organisations were present to celebrate the opening of our new school which was made possible through the generosity of the Doxa Youth Foundation and the Federal Government who provided the grant to refurbish the building. Our connection with the Marist Brothers strengthened by the building formally being part of Marist Brothers College Bendigo.
The convenience of being located on the edge of the CBD makes it easy for our students to access the school. We have had students travel from as far as Echuca to the north and Gisborne to the south which reflects the broad region we have served from 2006 to the present.
Our humble beginnings which saw us begin with 13 students in 2006 and today we have impacted the lives of hundreds of young people in Central Victoria. We currently have room for up to 50 students to be enrolled in our programs on site.
The concept of Doxa School developed through research carried out in Bendigo in the 1990's around student engagement in our schools, this led to a commitment to explore the possibilities of providing an alternative to mainstream schooling for students requiring something different. After 2000 the Catholic Education Office of Sandhurst worked to seek a partnership to help and eventually were able to secure the support of the Doxa Youth Foundation who were already supporting a similar school in Melbourne. Doxa School Bendigo adopted the program of the Melbourne school and opened for business in 2006. Over time our program has evolved to better cater for the needs of students and families in our community. In January 2021 Doxa School Bendigo changed governance from the St Kilian’s Parish to the newly incorporated Catholic Education Sandhurst (CES Ltd).
Since then our programs have evolved to meet the needs of our local community and our partner schools and organisations, and to provide a place of peace and healing where spirits can be nurtured and faith restored.