Dandenong High School was officially opened on 10 March 1919. Initially opened in temporary premises with juniors at the Old Fire Station and seniors at the Temperance Hall and Church of Christ.
The foundation stone was laid on 21 November 1919, the school was officially opened in late 1920, by then it had a total enrollment of 150. Do you remember "Siberia" at the bottom of the oval?
By 1959, overcrowding was an issue, originally designed to house only a few hundred pupils. The baby boomer invasion swelled its ranks to over 1000 and the sturdy brick buildings that once formed the core of the school were nowc omplemented by a hotchpotch of temporary constructions called 'demountables'.
The windows of these had either fences or strong wire grates erected in front of them as protection against cricket balls struck from the pitch on the main oval. The rear of the school, as a consequence, had the look of a migrant camp or a German Stalag (an impression heightened by Monday morning assemblies held in the enclosed courtyard).
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