THE school can afford only one computer for 300 pupils yet parents in surrounding areas bypass local schools to send their children there.
The school, Our Lady of Lourdes national school at Goldenbridge, Dublin, serves St Michael's Estate, which has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the State.
Yet, according to Ms Mary Keogh, the first lay principal of the Sisters of Mercy school, many of those who have left the area send their children to be educated there - from Ballyfermot, Bluebell, Clondalkin and Drimnagh.
Part of the reason may be continuity. "The average staff member here has spent 20 years in the place. Our staff is hope-filled and we pass that on in some way to the kids," says Ms Keogh.
The school is also unusual in the age of pupils' parents - the average age of the parents of children in junior infants is estimated at 18 or 19.
In these young parents, she says, she notices "a keenness that the children would do better than they themselves did
She was baffled when the school was left out of the Department of Education's new "Breaking the Cycle" programme (which offers extra support to schools in deprived areas) but is determined that her pupils will not miss out.
"We will do anything to help, the educational prospects of these children. Our purpose is to build up their potential and self-esteem and to give them a sense of hope for the future", she said.
Yesterday, the children put on a Christmas display of artwork. This went ahead in spite of a burst boiler which forced the early closure of the school for Christmas.
The school is currently trying to raise money for more computers.
"We hope to have four by the end of January," says Ms Keogh. "There is no grant for computers but we will get there.