Miami State High School is a school in

Miami, Queensland Miami is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Miami had a population of 6,843 people. Geography Miami is located along the Gold Coast Highway, south of Surfers Paradise and north of the Queensland / N ...

established as South Coast District State High School in 1963.

History

Originally named South Coast District State High School, Miami High was officially opened in April 1963. It soon became known as Miami High and, after a number of years, the more compact name was officially adopted. It was built to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding population on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. At the time, the only public high schools were

Southport High School Southport High School is a public high school located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Located in Perry Township, on the south side of the city, Southport is a part of the Perry Township Schools. Demographics The demographic breakdown ...

and

Tweed River High School Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

, about apart, with the site of Miami High about midway between the two on the

Gold Coast Highway Gold Coast Highway links the coastal suburbs of the Gold Coast in south eastern Queensland such as Miami, Mermaid Beach, Tugun, Bilinga to the Tweed Heads suburb of Tweed Heads West in New South Wales. At in length, the highway runs just we ...

at the very northern end of Miami. The chosen site presented a number of construction challenges because the southern half was a swamp and the northern half was on the steep slope of Nobby's Headland, an upthrust of schist about 50 m high at its highest point. The challenges were met by the simple expedient of blasting the slope and dumping the rubble in the swamp, but with a consequent complete loss of topsoil that created enduring problems for many years. Construction always stayed behind the needs of the students throughout the sixties. This was for three reasons: (a) it was an entirely new school competing with established schools for resources in a state that had allowed chronic neglect of its education infrastructure and which was in far worse condition than the larger states of

Victoria (Australia) Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, (b) Miami High's construction coincided precisely with the transition of the

Baby Boom Generation Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. The ...

from primary school to high school, and (c) in 1964, Queensland's

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

ceased to teach the eighth year, which was transferred to the

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, so that the entry year to high school became year 8. Consequently, in 1964, the infant Miami High went from catering to year 9 to catering to years 8, 9 and 10 with the state barely able to provide enough classrooms for the start of the year. 1965 and 1966 saw open underschool areas, originally intended for protection from sun and rain, being converted to temporary classrooms and several flimsy demountable buildings being installed as other temporary classrooms. Despite their nominally temporary nature, many of these structures were still in use twenty years later. In 1967, the Australian federal government built a two-story, four-laboratory science block, as part of a program to improve the teaching of science throughout Australia. Several of the laboratories were promptly pressed into service as regular classrooms. The school has a pool, film and TV studio and a 1500 seat assembly hall. The first principal was Claude Rayner. John Rowe was given the position in 1967. Bill Callinan took over as principal in 1969. The first deputy principal was Ken Maynard, appointed in 1967. The school's sign on the side of the hill is listed on the

Gold Coast Local Heritage Register The Gold Coast Local Heritage Register is a heritage register containing a list of culturally-significant places within the City of Gold Coast, Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption ...

Current status

The school has approximately 1450 students with over 170 teaching staff. Miami High has introduced an international exchange program with students from all over the world now attending the school. Expenditure on teacher participation in

professional development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning Informal learning is characterized "by a low degree of planning and ...

for the year 2006 reached a total of $24,530. Permanent and temporary staff at the school had an attendance rate of 96% for the same year. The retention rate of staff from 2005 to 2006 was 95%. Student retention rates from year 8 to year 12 was 75%.

Notable alumni

Entertainment & Politics

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In 2 ...

, former Premier of Queensland. *

Richard Black Harry Richard Black (October 10, 1921 – March 30, 2014) was an American commercial artist, illustrator, and portraitist. Black created the original Mr. Clean mascot for Procter & Gamble's household cleaner during the 1950s. Biography Early life ...

, former Chief Technology Officer, Bank of England * Amanda Ware, Australia's Next Top Model, Cycle 6 Winner *

Kim Watkins Kim Watkins (22 September 1967) is an Australian television and news presenter. Career Watkins began her career in 1979, aged 12 as the co-host of the Nine Network's children's show ''You Asked For It''. In 1989, Kim began a six-year stint ...

, TV Presenter

Sports

References