A little more than 60years ago, the government decided to build a dam in the Caura Valley. This dam was to supply water to the city of Port of Spain. In order to accomplish this, the village of Caura had to be evacuated.

Provisions were made to accommodate the displaced residents by converting the La Reconnaissance estate, Lopinot, into a settlement. The then parish priest, Fr Kean, said that they would never succeed in completing the dam because it involved dynamiting the church and breaking down the school.

The present school was built in 1946 at a cost of $22 000, previous to this, there was a school in the village of La Pastora. This school had to be closed and the children transferred to the new school in Lopinot Settlement. Simion T Julien was the head teacher.

His staff consisted of Robinson Modeste, Cilda Baptiste, Felix Hernandez and  Benedict Guerrero with 120 students being on roll. On November 13, 1946 there was a massive celebration, almost like a harvest festival and dance.

Villagers celebrated the fact that a new school had been built. Merle Bonair joined the staff in the new school and was later replaced by Victor Look Loy and Abdul Razack.

When the school was built, some people complained that it was too big. At the time, it was large enough to accommodate a community hall, a health centre, woodwork shop and a home economics centre.

It was named La Veronica RC thus replacing the school that was destroyed in Caura. On Sundays the principal and Mr Guerrero, who lived in Lopinot, climbed the hills looking for students who absented themselves from school, many being kept home to assist in the garden or cocoa estate.

La Veronica RC School

As an agricultural community a lot of interest was shown in the school’s garden and many prizes were won in various competitions.

Mr Guerero won a two-year scholarship to study Agriculture at the Eastern Caribbean Farm Institute at Centeno.

Teachers from the village, like the two Alexis sisters, went to Teachers’ Training College and obtained Diplomas in Teaching. This enabled children from the community to access secondary education through the Common Entrance Examination. Prior to this only those whose parents were able to afford went to secondary school.

Over the last 60 years, more than three thousand students have passed through this institution. Some of them have gone on to become lawyers, teachers, nurses, statisticians, civil servants, priests, a bishop, a chiropractor and successful business men and women in various fields of endeavour.

In 1995, the girls’ cricket team won the St George East Girls’ Cricket tournament and went on to the National level. In 1996 a student won the CLICO Super Reader Competition in the Under-16 category. 1999 saw the school winning the Agricultural  Science Competition put on by the Agricultural Society.

Also in 1999, Kady Paltoo a student, placed first in the School Leaving Examination. In 2004 the school placed second in the National Agricultural Science Primary Schools’ Competition, with students setting up a booth and display at the exposition in Central.

Over the years many of our past students have been able to gain entry to tertiary institutions to further their education, both here and abroad.
La Veronica RC School has certainly served the community of Lopinot and the nation creditably during its 60 years. It is the hope of the present staff that the students would continue to excel in every facet of their lives.

May God bless La Veronica Roman Catholic School as it celebrates its Diamond Jubilee on Monday, November 13. Archbishop Edward Gilbert will preside at the celebration of Holy Mass.