Dandenong High School

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Dandenong High School is one of the largest co-educational government schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school caters for students from Years 7 to 12. At the start of 2007, Dandenong High School, Cleeland Secondary College and Doveton Secondary College officially merged to become the new Dandenong High School, as part of the Federal Government's Building the Education Revolution. As of 2013, the school has 179 teaching and 54 non-teaching staff, as well as 1919 students, who come from 66 different cultural backgrounds. Stages 1 and 2 of the Dandenong Education Precinct Project have been completed as of 2011, whilst $10 million has been approved for a part of the final stage of work, Stage 3. The 2012-13 State Budget made provisions for $9.4M for the rest of Stage 3 to be completed.HistoryDandenong High School officially opened on 10 March 1919. It opened late due to the large outbreak of pneumonic influenza that was prevalent at the end of the First World War. When the School opened it was in temporary premises with the junior students housed at the Old Fire Station and the senior students at the Temperance Hall and Church of Christ. There were 104 students. The foundation stone of the Administration Building (A Block) was laid on 21 November 1919 and the school was officially opened in late 1920. In 1920 the total student enrolment was 150, of which 60 students came from the Berwick, Pakenham, Garfield, Bunyip, Hallam, Lyndhurst, Cranbourne, Koo-Wee-Rup, Carnegie and Murrumbeena areas. The first Headmaster of Dandenong High School was Mr Percival Charles William Langford. Mr Langford served in the 4th Light Horse Brigade, of the First Australian Imperial Force, and saw action in France and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. He was invalided out of the Army in September 1916 suffering from typhoid. He then undertook recruitment work for the Army. Mr Langford served at the school until 1934 when he transferred to Mildura, then to Frankston in 1937 where he worked until his retirement in 1948.