Miami State High School

Miami State High School is a secondary school in the suburb of Miami in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia). It is currently the Gold Coast's second oldest state school, second in age only to Southport State High School (established 1955).

The traditional custodians of the land on which Miami State High School rests are the Yugambeh language group of the Bundjalung nation.

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 and Tweed River High School, about apart, with the site of Miami High about midway between the two on the Gold Coast Highway 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: (a)

competition with established schools for resources; (b) the transition of the Baby Boom Generation from primary school to high school; and (c) the inclusion of year 8.

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 an assembly hall with a 1,500 seat capacity. This assembly hall was the first venue on the coast that could seat more than 1,000 people. It has hosted performers such as AC/DC, Sherbet, Skyhooks, and Hot Chocolate.

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 composed of brickwork in a standard grey mortar with recessed joints, dually functioning as cladding and a piece of artwork. The northern elevation has a brick mural depicting a breaking wave. The pattern is said to be a surfing metaphor 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 and motto, "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 Champions: (2) 2018, 2019

Junior Female (Years 7-9) AFL Queensland Schools Cup 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, 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, Spanish, and Auslan (Australian Sign Language).

As part of it extra-curicullar program it organises international trips to Japan and Spain.

Administration Staff

As of 2025, the school has a teaching staff of 122 (Full-Tine Equivalent: 114.7) and a non-teaching staff of 61 (Full-Time Equivalent: 46.0).

Principals

The following is a full list of the school's principals since the schools inception:

+ Previous principalsTenureNameRef1963–1966Claude Rayner1967–1968John Rowe1969–1985William "Bill" Callinan1986–2016Jim Baker2017–2023Susan Dalton2024–PresentClint Curran

In 2025, 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 ceased to teach year 8, which was transferred to the high schools. 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's state-wide "Flying Start" program.

Student enrolments

In 2026, Miami State High School was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 1,536 students.

The trend in school enrolments (August figures) has been:

+ Trends in Student EnrolmentsYearYearsBoysGirlsTotalCapacityRef 7 8 9 10 11 12 2014 - - - - - - 560 586 1,146 - 2015 - - - - - - 627 644 1,271 - 2016 - - - - - - 621 625 1,246 - 2017 - - - - - - 596 620 1,216 - 2018 - - - - - - 620 635 1,255 - 2019 253 253 199 224 231 163 656 666 1,322 1,128 2020 270 253 248 197 198 166 659 673 1,332 1,128 2021 313 268 264 247 178 190 728 732 1,460 1,128 2022 302 309 261 259 252 157 754 786 1,540 1,449 2023 256 297 314 248 238 202 764 791 1,555 1,449 2024 265 248 296 298 248 186 737 804 1,541 1,449 2025 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 736 806 1,542 1,449 2026 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 1,536

Cultural Diversity

Indigenous

The school is located on Kombumerri Saltwater People people's traditional Country, part of the broader Yugambeh nation.

Multiculturalism

The recent trends in multicultural composition been:

+ Trends in Multicultural CompositionYearIndigenousLBOTERef 2014 4% 12% 2015 4% 8% 2016 3% 13% 2017 3% 13% 2018 3% 15% 2019 3% 15% 2020 3% 12% 2021 3% 12% 2022 3% 11% 2023 3% 12% 2024 3% 11% 2025 4% 16% 2026 TBA TBA

Notable alumni

The following are notable alumni of the school:

+ Notable alumni in Politics & Business Name Achievement Ref Anna BlighFormer Premier of Queensland Richard BlackFormer Chief Technology Officer, Bank of England

+ Notable alumni in the Entertainment Industry Name Achievement Ref Amanda Ware Australia's Next Top Model (Cycle 6) Winner Kim Watkins TV Presenter

+ Notable alumni in sport Name Sport Top-level team/affiliation Ref Maddison Levi Australian rules footballRugby sevens Gold CoastAustralia Teagan Levi Australian rules football Rugby sevens Gold Coast Australia Lucy Single Australian rules football Gold Coast Scott McGrory Cycling Australia Heidi Piper Fencing Notre Dame Sharon Jaklofsky Long jump Netherlands Alex Glenn Rugby league Brisbane, New Zealand Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew Surfing Australia Benjamin Schulte Swimming Part of the contingent for Guam at the 2012 Summer Olympics (London).

Miami State High School

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