Miami State High School is a school in the suburb of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

(

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) established as "South Coast District State High School" in 1963. It is currently the Gold Coast's second oldest state school, second in age only to

Southport State High School Southport State High School is a secondary school situated in Southport on the Gold Coast, Queensland in Australia. Southport State High School was the first public high school on the Gold Coast, celebrating its 100th centenary in 2016. 'Resp ...

(established 1955). The traditional custodians of the land on which Miami State High School rests are the Yugambeh language group of the

Bundjalung nation The Bundjalung people, also spelled Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton, New South Wales, Grafton in northern coastal New South Wales to Beaudesert, Que ...

. 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. 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 b ...

, 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 and across the border of New South Wales to the Tweed Heads suburb of Tweed Heads West. At in length, ...

at the very northern end of Miami.

Infrastructure

Initial Construction

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. It construction in the sixties always stayed behind the needs of the students for three reasons:

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

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.

Buildings

The school has a assembly hall with a 1,500 seat capacity. This assembly hall as the first venue on the coast that could seat more than 1,000 people. It has hosted performers such as

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

, Sherbet,

Skyhooks Skyhook was a location technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in location positioning. Founded in 2003, Skyhook initially focused on geolocating Wi-Fi access points by wardriving for commercial purposes. Skyhook trans ...

, and

Hot Chocolate Hot Chocolate are a British soul band formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1984. Their hits include " You Sexy Thing", a UK number two which also made ...

. 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. In 2014, construction of a multi-storey learning facility for years 7 and 8 was completed, as part of the “Flying Start” program, which brought year 7 students into the Queensland high school system. The building has two prominent brick

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

composed of

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by ...

in a standard grey

mortar Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

with recessed joints, dually functioning as cladding and a piece of

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

. The northern elevation has a brick mural depicting a

breaking wave In fluid dynamics and nautical terminology, a breaking wave or breaker is a wave with enough energy to "break" at its peak, reaching a critical level at which linear energy transforms into wave turbulence energy with a distinct forward curve. ...

. The pattern is said to be a

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

for "the need to focus on the task at hand from start to finish and achieve the best outcome for you.", similar to the principles of surfing a tube which requires "a good start, stay calm and composed in the middle, before ending the journey in one piece, albeit a changed and inspired person." The western elevation, facing the highway, has a "binary wall" mural, featuring a binary computer code spelling out the school's

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...

and

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

, "Miami State High School, Learning through a team effort, Semper Costa Floreat". The architect, Conrad Garget, described it as "a cost effective, artistic, inspiring, character enabling, durable and low maintenance structure which both describes the story of development in education through the use of computers." The building prompted the then school principal, Jim Baker, to have the word ‘Inspire’ rise vertically on the western elevation of the entry building, and, subsequently, to similarly name all the school's existing buildings.

Sports

Miami State High School possesses an all-weather playing surface featuring four basketball, four netball and three volleyball courts, a sports field, fully equipped gymnasium and 25 metre swimming pool. In January 2024, The Sports Centre of Excellence was officially finished and open for school and approved community usage. Students can utilise the building's world class sports facilities to develop their athletic abilities and excel in their chosen sports. The new hall features two sports courts, a kinesiology lab and theory room, three learning areas and a staff room. There are also additional amenities and equipment storage, office space, a performance stage and a kitchen with kiosk facilities. An exciting addition to the sports courts are professional glass backboards for basketball, which were jointly funded by the school and the Department of Education. A total of $13.2 million (including GST) was invested to deliver the new multi-purpose hall.

AFL Team Achievements

=Senior Female (Years 10-12)

= *

AFL Queensland Schools Cup The AFL Queensland Schools Cup is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by schools from across the state of Queensland. Founded in 2016 it consists of a knockout tournament starting from several re ...

: Champions: (2) 2018, 2019

=Junior Female (Years 7-9)

= *

: Champions: 2016

Hollywood Sign

Miami's most iconic landmark is the school's yellow ‘Hollywood-style’ sign. Exerect in 1979, the sign was the brainchild of then principal, William Callinan, and was designed to cover the scarp face, once the site of a rock quarry. After a trip to Los Angeles, Bill was inspired by the Hollywood sign to build the school's sign in the same design. Originally, it read 'Hi Miami High', but it now reads simply "Miami High". 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, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country compr ...

, due to it being "historically significant in demonstrating the important fun and fantasy phase of development on the Gold Coast.".

Fencing

The school grounds are enclosed in a 2-metre tall spiked black steel perimeter fence. The fence was constructed in 2022, as part of a state government initial which saw similar fence erected in 140 school in 2021. The reason for the fence was attributed to the general "rise in crime around state schools in south-east Queensland".

Curriculum

Exchange Academy

Miami State High School offers a number of Excellence and Specialisation programs for high achieving and goal driven students in the following fields: Academic, Cultural and Sporting.

Exchange Program

Miami High has introduced an international exchange program with students from all over the world now attending the school.

Aviation

Since 2025, they canceled the courses.

Languages

The school's language department offers

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and

Auslan Auslan (; an abbreviation of Australian Sign Language) is the sign language used by the majority of the Australian Deaf community. Auslan is related to British Sign Language (BSL) and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL); the three have descended f ...

(Australian Sign Language). As part of it extra-curicullar program it organises international trips to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Executive

Principals

The following is a full list of the school's

principals Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Servi ...

since the schools inception: In 2024, the current principal of Miami State High School was Clint Curran and the deputy principal is Michelle Flynn.

Students

Years

In 1964, Queensland's

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

ceased to teach year 8, which was transferred to the

high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. The "infant" Miami State High School went from catering to year 9 to catering to years 8–10, causing the school to be barely being able to provide enough classrooms for the start of the year. As part of a 2013 trial, officially implemented in 2015, year 7 was subsequently included, so that Miami State High School now catered for years 7–12, to align Queensland with the other states, as part of

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Queensland Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party. ...

's state-wide "Flying Start" program.

Student enrolments

In 2022, Miami State High School was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 1,449 students. The trend in school enrolments (August figures) has been:

Notable alumni

The following are notable

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of the school:

References

External links

* * * *{{url, https://www.education.gov.au, Australian Department of Education Public high schools in Queensland Schools on the Gold Coast, Queensland Educational institutions established in 1963 1963 establishments in Australia