Kingswood College (Box Hill)

Kingswood College is coeducational K-12 college operating under the auspices of the Uniting Church in Australia, located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Box Hill South, Victoria, Australia. It began as New College in 1890, and was known as Box Hill Grammar from 1928 to 1965.HistoryIn 1890 Arthur Stephenson established New College as a boys' school for day students and boarders in Rose Street Box Hill. The school was renamed Box Hill Grammar around 1928. The Methodist Church assumed responsibility for the school in 1929 and purchased a property in Station Street, Box Hill, known as 'Gwynton Park'. A new building, the Cato Block, was built on the property in 1930. The move to the new site generated much optimism and a masterplan of imposing buildings was developed. The Great Depression and the Second World War made a large impression on the school - instead of implementing the masterplan, increased numbers of students had to be accommodated at virtually no cost.The school became co-educational in 1933 when girls were introduced to the Boarding section of the school. This practice was unheard of at that time in mainstream church schools in Victoria, if not Australia. In 1936 there were 14 girls at the school and in 1937, with 21 girls enrolled, co-educational classes were held. By 1945 there were 83 boys and 52 girls at the school and by 1955 the numbers of students had increased to 174 boys and 73 girls. However, the school reverted to only taking boys between 1964 and 1977.