Monterey Secondary College

Campus

The College's campus is located in a green belt area near to the northern boundary of the suburb of Frankston and on the southern boundary of the suburb of Frankston North. To the south it is bordered by the Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club, to the west by the Long Island Country Golf Club, and to the north by the Eric Bell Sports Reserve. Its main entrance is to the east on Silvertop Street in Frankston North.

In addition to four main classroom wings, the campus also has centres for dance and drama, music, and science, as well as a large multi-purpose gymnasium. Its grounds are approximately 75,000 square metres (810,000 sq ft) and encompass a number of sports pitches as well as a hobby farm.

MHS and MTS

Of the two antecedent schools that merged to establish the College, Monterey High School was established in 1967 and Monterey Technical School in 1968. Both of the schools served the growing demand for secondary education in the northern City of Frankston suburbs of Frankston North, Carrum Downs and Seaford. During this time, homes in the suburb of Frankston North (a former defence force/government housing estate) were being transferred to private ownership, the suburb of Carrum Downs was being redeveloped (from a post-war Salvation Army settlement) and new home construction was progressing in the suburb Seaford.

The campus of the High School on Monterey Boulevard was completed in late 1966, with its first students starting at the commencement of 1967. The Technical School operated out of portable buildings at the High School campus while its own campus was being constructed on Silvertop Street. The initial buildings at each school were mostly constructed of mixed brick and breeze block and were connected via both covered and uncovered pathways. Multi-purpose gymnasiums were constructed at each campus and basketball and tennis courts and football and soccer fields were created on each campus' grounds. A large music centre was also constructed at the Technical School campus, and continues to be used by the College.

1993 merger

By the early 1990s, Frankston City Council decided to merge the High School and Technical School in order reduce administrative costs. During this time, attendance at technical schools in the state of Victoria had declined dramatically as students began to strive more for academic achievements rather than learning a trade.

Following a series of consultative parent-teacher meetings, the merger of the two schools was announced to take place in 1993. The College's records show that the main concern voiced by parents and teachers was that the merger may "incite violence" between the traditionally competitive High School and Technical School students. Some "tension" was reported between students in the early years of the new College, following the merger, however a reputation for "unruliness" was short-lived. The new name of Monterey Secondary College was adopted at the merger of the schools in 1993, and officially used upon its full completion in 1994.

The former Technical School became the main campus (years 7-10) of the new College. The former High School was retained for senior students (years 11-12) completing the Victorian Certificate of Education in the merger years. The former High School was eventually closed in 1995, and has since been redeveloped into a community park—with a cycling and walking track, playground and skate park now in place.

Recent history

In 1997, a petition was presented to the Legislative Assembly of Victoria signed by 1,879 residents of Carrum Downs which sought action for the "construction of suitable facilities in Carrum Downs with the view of relocating Monterey Secondary College from its present location in Frankston North". The petition was unsuccessful. During the 2000s, the public Carrum Downs Secondary College as well as the Carrum Downs Campus of the private Flinders Christian Community College were eventually established in Carrum Downs to ease enrolment at Monterey Secondary College.

During the 1990s, a new multi-purpose gymnasium was constructed and the former gymnasium redeveloped into a dance and drama centre. New theatrettes and art, computer, graphic art, science and textiles classrooms as well as a hobby farm were also added. During the 2000s, eight new free-use computer labs were added and the College canteen redeveloped into a 1950s-style American diner. Since the early 2000s, the College has also established a reputation for innovation and success in performing and visual arts. During the 2010s, a new A$2 million science centre was constructed.

Monterey Art Exhibition

The Monterey Art Exhibition is the College's annual student art exhibition, which is held at the Frankston Arts Centre. A notable artist is invited to open the exhibition each year—such as Robyn Bounds and Jeff Hook among others. Since 2015, the winning artwork of the exhibition has been selected for the permanent collection of law firm Gilbert + Tobin and displayed in their Melbourne offices.

Bands and ensembles

The College has a number of school bands, including junior and senior school bands and a jazz band as well as other instrumental ensembles. Its jazz band is considered to be one of the finest in the state of Victoria and receives regular invitations for public performances—such as Federation Square in 2004.

Rock Eisteddfod Challenge

The College first entered the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge in 1994, with an original production based on the history of the car. It won the 1996 Victorian premier division competition with a production based on the Batman comic book and media franchise. Controversy ensued in 1996 when Nine Network broadcast the production of St. Columba's College, based on the 1990s television series The X-Files, instead of the winning production of Monterey Secondary College. It won the 2000 Victorian premier division competition with an original production based on the life of the Siberian Ice Maiden. It also produced award-winning productions based on the 1960s television series The Thunderbirds and the rise of the Roman Empire before the cancellation of the Challenge in 2010.

Leadership

The College has a strong student leadership system with a number of internal and external programs. Programs such as College captains, junior and senior school prefects, performing arts and sports leadership and students' representative council are focused on leadership of the College community and student life. Other programs such as the Advance Youth Development Program and High Resolves Global Citizenship and Leadership Program are focused on leadership at a state, national and international level.

It is also a Beacon model school, and has partnerships with the TAFE college Chisholm Institute and public company CIMIC Group, in order to provide leadership opportunities to its students who undertake the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning alternative to the Victorian Certificate of Education.

Sports

The College has four sports houses—which are named after successful sporting alumni—and compete in annual whole-College athletics, swimming and cross country carnivals as well as other College-based competitions. As part of its sports leadership programs, each house is led and managed by a captain elected from the student body. The houses are: "Bryant" (named after badminton player Lisa Campbell (née Bryant); house colour: yellow), "Burke" (named after Australian rules football player Nathan Burke; house colour: green), "Foster" (named after triathlete Stephen Foster; house colour: red), and "King" (named after athlete Debbie Flintoff-King; house colour: blue).

Alumni

Faculty