By Parker McKenzie
Cire Services will add to its community schools in Yarra Junction, Mount Evelyn and Lilydale starting in 2024, after acquiring the former school grounds of Mountain District Christian School earlier this year.
Cire Services is a not-for-profit and registered charity founded in the Yarra Ranges as the Upper Yarra Community House in 1976 and offers community schooling for at-risk youth, training, early learning and community outreach services.
Cire Services CEO Gus Seremetis told the Star Mail the opportunity to acquire the new campus, located at 325 Macclesfield Road Monbulk, arose in late 2022.
“We went through the process of liaising with the agents and our understanding was that it was going to go out as an expression of interest,” she said.
“It’s an amazing opportunity. 17 and a half acres gives our students the opportunity to have experiences they couldn’t before and our other campuses don’t have access to a lot of the resources or the facilities that are there.”
Those facilities include a full-sized oval, an indoor sports stadium and gymnasium, a stage, an internal canteen, a science room and a library.
Ms Seremetis said other campuses at Lilydale, Mt Evelyn and Berwick are currently at capacity and have waiting lists.
“This actually addresses a huge need in the community and surrounding areas,” she said.
“We’ve had a lot of support from key stakeholders including Yarra Ranges council. We’ve also had enormous support from Mountain District Christian School and they’ve been helpful and supportive, and they’re glad it is staying in the community.”
Mountain District Christian School operated for 43 years, however, financial difficulties led to the school announcing its closure in October 2022.
Ms Seremetis said when the community school launches for term one in 2024, it will be Cire Service’s first to offer schooling for prep to year 12.
“The model will stay the same as what we currently have now: We will we have on average around 15 students per class and we have two educators in each class,” she said.
“We run differently from your traditional models, there’s a lot of support for the kids at various levels but it will also allow us to do a lot of other activities that we’ve normally had to go external for.”
Cire Community Schools currently have around 360 students across its four campuses, where it offers co-educational schooling catering to young people who have or are at risk of disengaging from their education and require an alternative to mainstream schooling.
Ms Seremetis said there has been a lot of support and interest from the local community since the acquisition was announced.
“You could open a school like ours in almost every suburb and you would be at capacity,” she said.
“A lot of kids struggle with mainstream, so we’re an alternative. It doesn’t suit every student but it suits a lot of students, we’re really pleased that we’re in a position to be able to offer this.”
For information about Cire Services and their community schools can be found at cire.org.au
