Carmel Adventist College is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

secondary day and boarding school, located in the suburb of ,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, Australia. The College caters for students from Years 7 to 12 and is open to any student who wishes to study and learn within a Christian environment. The College is part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's worldwide

educational system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

, the world's second-largest Christian school system.

History

This school began as the Darling Range School in 1907. It was originally established to provide local education facilities for secondary students of Seventh-day Adventist families who would otherwise have had to go across the country to Avondale School in Cooranbong, a town about north of Sydney, to receive their education. Charles E Ashcroft, an early Seventh-day Adventist, offered to donate land for the proposed boarding school. The land was situated east of Perth in the Heidelberg Valley (now Bickley Valley) in the

Darling Range The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to t ...

. Ashcroft's offer was accepted and work began immediately. Church members demonstrated their interest in the venture by contributing both time and money. The school opened 13 January 1907 with H.R. Martin as Principal, and only two students. By the end of the first week the number had grown to five and by the close of the year to 14. Since its modest beginning in 1907, the school has undergone many changes which culminated in the rebuilding of the main administrative-classroom block in 1977. The College estate was gradually enlarged until it totalled , of which are in

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

, mainly stone fruits and citrus. The school celebrated its centenary in 2007 and has continued to undergo renovations and changes to improve the appearance and ability to provide an excellent education to its students. This includes the removal of the majority of the property's orchards, allowing for a better view of the valley, the remodeling of the library with the addition of brand new computers and facilities, as well as the changes made to the school's academic and behavioural policies to allow for a difference in learning and discipline.

Facilities

The College offers students a high standard learning facilities such as: * A newly remodelled and refurbished library, equipped with Apple iMacs * Dedicated junior classrooms for Year 7 and Year 8 * Newly refurbished classrooms * A refurbished Food Technology Department * A recently remodeled Design & Technology Department, incorporating large, fully equipped Automotive, Small Machines, Metalwork and Woodwork rooms as well as Graphics Technology, Ceramics, Photography and Art rooms * A computer room, equipped with Apple iMacs * A fully equipped Science Department * A full-court Gymnasium, complete with a working fitness area * A Horticulture Department with orchard and gardens * Outdoor tennis and basketball courts * Top and middle ovals * A high quality computer network enabling high speed wireless (and/or cable connections) with seamless and extensive coverage of the campus.

Spiritual aspects

All students take religion classes each year that they are enrolled. These classes cover topics in biblical history and Christian and denominational doctrines. Instructors in other disciplines also begin each class period with prayer or a short devotional thought, many which encourage student input. Weekly, the entire student body gathers together for an hour-long chapel service with guest speakers and games. Outside the classrooms there is year-round spiritually oriented programming that relies on student involvement.

Sport

Carmel Adventist College rotates its sport selections on an academic term basis. Commonly offered sports include soccer, mountain biking, rock climbing, gymnastics, team games, and basketball.

References

External links