Principal Janice Tofia said a marble plaque, dedicated to the memory of the school's ex-pupils who died in World War 1, had reappeared at the school for the first time in 17 years.
The gates were torn down in 1991 because they were becoming structurally unsafe.
While Mrs Tofia was delighted with the return of the small piece of history, it was a bittersweet reunion, because the wrought iron gates and the second marble plaque containing the names of the ex-pupils was still missing and likely to be in a landfill.
"When the gates were removed, the contractors broke one of the marble plaques with the names on, and the other was returned to the RSA."
She believed the plaque had been stored by the RSA until 2006, when it moved to the United Services Club in South Dunedin.
"There was a clean-up there when they built the new Montecillo Home. The plaque was thrown into a skip and was bound for landfill".
"But it was rescued by an anonymous person. We were very pleased that it was returned. It would have been very sad if it had been lost to the landfill."
RSA immediate past president Fred Daniel said he was surprised.
"It's not RSA policy to store school memorials. I'm not sure how it ended up in the RSA's possession".
"The whole story sounds strange... that we are connected to it."
Mrs Tofia said, depending on funding, the school planned to place the plaque in a monument on the school grounds so pupils could learn from, and value, the past.
"It's very important for today's children to have that link with the past. We try to install a sense of belonging and pride and strengthen their connection to the school".
"But we can't afford to do this project just yet."
