Established 1942 Teaching staff ~260 Phone +61 2 9375 1600 Founder Abraham Rabinovitch Motto To Learn, To Heed, To Act | Principal John Hamey Grades K – 12 Total enrollment 1,800 (2010) Founded 1942 Colors Sky Blue, Navy Blue | |
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Type Independent, day school Religious affiliation(s) Modern Orthodox Judaism Address Queens Park Rd, Queens Park NSW 2022, Australia Similar Emanuel School, Reddam House, Sceggs Darlinghu, Cranbrook School, Ascham School | ||
Moriah War Memorial College (or more commonly, Moriah College) is an Australian independent, Modern Orthodox Jewish, co-educational, day school that is located in Queens Park, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. The college provides education from kindergarten to Year 12, and has affiliations with preschool providers sympathetic with Modern Orthodox Judaism.
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The college is a member of the Jewish Communal Appeal, and the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA).
History
Founded in 1942 by Abraham Rabinovitch, Moriah College started as a small school located in Glenayr Avenue, Bondi; still in use today as an affiliated kindergarten. Harold Nagley, the first principal of Moriah, traveled door to door in an attempt to gain pupils. In 1952 Rabinovitch purchased an 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) Bellevue Hill property from the estate of the late Mark Foy for A£30,500 for use by the college. Following renovations, the college opened at the Bellevue Hill site in 1953 with 57 students. Further renovations were completed in the mid-1960s and, by 1967 the King David School in Edgecliff, formed by the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies in 1960, merged with Moriah College. The King David School relocated to a property in Dover Road Rose Bay purchased from another school and the Bellevue Hill site was used as a high school. From 1975 the college experienced rapid expansion from 500 to 800 students and additional properties were acquired in Bellevue Hill to allow for planned expansion. Yet college officials had reservations that the site would not accommodate future growth. By the early 1980s the NSW Government decided to amalgamate two public schools in Dover Heights and sell the unused campus. Moriah College made an offer for this campus; however, the Premier Neville Wran rejected the offer following a public campaign organised by the NSW Teachers' Federation. Wran offered the college a lease over land located in Queens Park on the site of the old Eastern Suburbs Hospital and construction of a new high school began. Amid cost overruns and delays, by late 1993 the college decided to also relocate the primary school to the site and sell all land held at Bellevue Hill. Over A$12 million was realised from the sale of the college's Bellevue Hill properties.
The college is now entirely situated on the Queens Park campus; having purchased the land from the NSW Government in 2011for A$27 million, with the final installment of A$20.25 million payable in February 2014. Some older building remain from the Eastern Suburbs Hospital that formerly occupier part of the land. Additional affiliated preschool campuses are located in Bondi, Bondi Junction, Randwick, and Rose Bay.
Extracurricular
The school's Symphonic Wind Ensemble won the NSW Junior band championships in May 2012 building on the work of a number of band tours.
Moriah Rugby team 2015 did very well. Both under 14s and 18s came third in the Peninsula Cup Tournament.
Notable alumni
Moriah Foundation
The Moriah College has a Moriah Foundation. To become a Moriah Foundation member you need to give $20,000 or more to the school over a mutually agreed timeframe. The levels move from $20,000 to one million dollars. Members receive certain recognitions including having their name included on the inaugural Moriah Foundation Recognition Wall, being invited to exclusive opportunities and events and being invited to all major College events. The Moriah Foundation Board includes Patron Frank Lawy AC and board members such as Brian Schwartz AM (Chairman), Judy Lowy (President), Stephen Jankelowitz (Honorary Treasurer) and Bruce Fink (Board Member).