Loreto Community School was formerly known as Loreto Convent and the old secondary school was set up in 1966 by the Loreto Order Sisters. In the first year it was girls only and this changed to a mixed school the following year making it on of the first co-educational secondary school in Ireland. The school was also a boarding school for girls.
From the start, the education offered by the Loreto Sisters proved popular. The mainly academic curriculum was enhanced as time went on by the inclusion of the sciences and practical subjects. The Sisters in Milford, as elsewhere, placed a strong emphasis on Irish culture, music and sport.
The introduction of free secondary education in the latter half of the1960’s greatly expanded the number of students attending. Throughout the 1970s and 80s new buildings such as a PE hall and football pitches were added, with great foresight, thereby providing a remarkable physical education facility for generations of students and an amenity that has been of tremendous value to the community at large.
The Sisters left Loreto in 1994. The status of the school changed from a Secondary School to a Community School in 1996 when the Department of Education and Skills purchased the school and its extensive grounds from the Loreto Sisters.
In 2004, construction began on a new school building and in 2006 both students and staff moved into the new school.
In 2019, the Department of Education and Skills announced a large scale extension for the school. The Department have approved for 11 new classrooms which will include the replacement of five prefabs with permanent rooms, one technical graphics classroom, two science labs and prep area, one art room and two special education teaching rooms. New toilets and a locker area will also form part of the plan.