Karoonda Area School

School students had their first lessons in Karoonda in the town’s Institute when its inaugural school opened on 18 January in 1915 with just 13 pupils. By the end of the month, enrolments had jumped to 22 children.

In 1940 the Karoonda Area School was established – the first of its kind in South Australia – with 112 students on the roll and Keith Polkinghorn as the school’s first principal. Ten years later, numbers had more than doubled to 230 students. It reached its highest enrolment level in 1968 with 377 students.