What struck us was that the suburb of Princes Hill did not have a heart, such as a shopping centre. That role was fulfilled by the school: Princes Hill High School was the heart of the community. The Princes Hill schools are integral to the local community. While they educate the community’s children and provide a range of facilities for community use, the schools also rely on local community support for their growth and development. The schools seek to fit in with their community, understand its needs and participate in its educational, cultural and social evolution. Over the past century, the Princes Hill schools have built up a proud record of service to their locality and to the wider community. They have provided the community with an extraordinary range of facilities. These have included the Class for Partially Sighted Children, the Nursery and Kindergarten Centre, the Saturday School of Modern Languages and the Princes Hill School Park Centre. The local community has reciprocated. Dedicated people have worked long and hard, individually and on committees, to found the schools, to help them through all kinds of difficulties and crises, and to build their reputations for progressiveness. Some of the bodies through which they have worked - the Board of Advice, the School Committee, the Advisory Council and the School Council - were established and operated under the auspices and direction of the Education Department. Others, such as the Mothers’ Club and other parent clubs, evolved independently of the Education Department. Some committee members with high public profiles have been discussed in the course of this book. The vast majority, however, are not mentioned by name the small army of men and women who have attended committee meetings, worked on fétes and street stalls, knocked on doors to collect donations, assisted teachers in class and joined working bees around the school. If they cannot all be acknowledged individually here, it goes without saying that their generosity, energy and industry have contributed enormously to the schools’ welfare.