“Christmas came early,” St. Joseph High School Principal Jim Mains said as he watched Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital personnel file into his school Thursday with 15 computers. “This is a wonderful thing.”

Eric Brown, who works both for the hospital and the city’s Catholic school system, said the Russell, Ky., hospital had taken the computers out of service but the computers still had a lot of life left in them. Once the medical information had been removed, the computers were sent both to St. Joe and to Holy Family schools in Ashland, Ky.

“The equipment at St. Joe had been in use since 1998,” Brown said. “In terms of technology, there’s been a lot of changes in those years. The hospital had an increase in equipment and agreed to donate these.”

Brown said if the hospital had sold the computers, each one could have netted $500 to $600. If the school had had to buy new computers, each one could have cost $800 to $1,200.

“We’re extremely grateful,” school system development director Sissy Clyse said.

“We’re thankful to Bellefonte and Eric for arranging this,” Mains agreed. “This expands our technology capacity and will enhance the educational process for the students.”