Our History
Along with most Christian Schools in Australia, MECS has a wonderful story of hard working and dedicated Christians building a community with literally their hands, feet, a strong migrant work ethic and a deep trust in the Lord.
Read on for an extension of this wonderful story.
Most of the Founders of Mount Evelyn Christian School were post Second World War immigrants from The Netherlands. They had brought with them the Biblical conviction that the training and nurture of their children is not the task of the State or the Church, but their own God given responsibility as parents.
It was inconceivable to them that the teaching and nurturing of their children would be done by teachers who do not fear God or do not have the Biblical values and world views which they imparted to them at home.
They settled in and around Mount Evelyn, as this is where many Dutch migrants in the past who were relatives or family friends, had established their own businesses, orchards and farms, especially for growing flowers. When you drive along the road from Mount Evelyn to Monbulk you will see many of these.
First they established their own church, the (Christian) Reformed Church of Australia, showing their desire to be independent of the church in Holland, whilst upholding a Calvinistic witness in their new country. Uppermost in their minds was the conviction that they should aim to establish Christian parent-controlled schools, perhaps not for their children but at least for their grandchildren, on a Calvanistic basis as their forebears had done in their old country. Such schools sprang up in Holland/The Netherlands due to the Christian leadership of Dutch statesman, theologian and philosopher Dr. Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920). Many, if not all of these immigrants, had been pupils at these schools.
Kuyper is still referred to regularly at MECS via his famed quote, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'" This quote captures the framework of sphere sovereignty that the founding Christian Reformed Church held close to and underpins the MECS constitution and educational creed.
Although the beginnings of MECS were firmly rooted in the membership of the Reformed Church of Mount Evelyn, it was the MECS Founders founder’s view that the school should be independent from any church with its own scriptural basis and creed. A Members meeting was held to decide on the name of the school – Mount Evelyn Christian Primary School (which was only used for 1 year, as they opened a Year 7 class in 1974)
The Mount Evelyn group had already made a start before the school was established by running "The Mt. Evelyn Saturday Morning School" in a house bought for a church site and in the St. Mark's Church of England hall at the top of Birmingham Road, Mount Evelyn. Under the leadership of Christians committed to establishing a Christian School not run by the church but by the parents, the children gave up their Saturday mornings to learn Bible knowledge after spending the week in secular education at the local State School.
The founding board members reflected many years later that they were just ordinary people who were convinced of God’s provision for them and knowing that they would have to go ahead somehow. They said “we weren't special, we didn't have any high qualifications and yet God used us to start this and blessed the endeavours. Like Jesus disciples who were not professors or trained, just ordinary simple folk. It was the same with us. We worked in partnership, bringing up our children together. Working together we could achieve so much. The hallmark of those years was the community, a real sense of belonging”.
History through the years
1964
The Association of Parents for Christian Education was formed. Fundraising began in earnest! The Mothers Club played a key role in this. Families pledged money for the school fund, some of our founders remember going house to house weekly collecting the shillings and pledges.
There were countless families involved in fundraising and part of the Mothers Club. They held market stalls and fetes at the Mount Evelyn Public Hall, selling cakes, jams, knitted items and many other handmade wares. There were fashion parades, plant stalls, croquette and oliebollen stalls, hair setting evenings, progressive dinners, cooking demonstrations and even selling rabbits to raise money!
The early Field Days were initially at Oasis Camp and then moved to the York Road property. Once the York Road property was purchased it gave them a gathering place, a focal point. There were tractor rides, hay rides, pony rides, games, competitions, raffles, food stalls, everything they did raised money towards the school fund.
So many families were involved in these early days, Beimers, Bongers, Bouma, De Waard, De Vries, De Witt, Dubbeld, Kooymans, Glidden, Goudswaard, Greenwood, Groenewoud, Groenhuizen, Haartsen, Ham, Heatherich, Heidenrijk, Idema, Kleefsman, Kooy, Kroon, Mechielsen, Monteau, Noorbergen, Nyhouse, Paas, Peet, Reminga, Schreurs, Tromp, Van Bockel, Van Den Brink , Van Keulen, Van Lewin, Van Leeuwen, Van Wageningen, Wiersma, Williams, Wilkens, Wind, and more that contributed but have not been documented.
1970
The York Road property was purchased at auction, which at the time was an orchard with a homestead and a hut on 6 hectares of sloping bush. Keith Greenwood had been nominated to bid on behalf of the Association, with a limit of $16,000. The Association believed this property was in God’s plan for establishing a school and that it was the time to start building a school for their children. Keith and three others members present at the auction put their own money on the line to secure the property for $19,000. The long held dream of a property was achieved! Then the physical hard work began, clearing the land in anticipation of the building project.
1971
Jack Mechielsen was appointed as the Founding Principal, after responding to an advertisement in the National Reformed Church newsletter, Trowel and Sword.
1972
Construction commenced on 3 classrooms in January. Keith Noorbergen was appointed as an early site manager by Jerry Nyhouse & John Beimers. Many men contributed to the clearing of the land, bricklaying and building of the classrooms and subsequent landscaping. This included George & Andrew Tromp, Martin & Laurence Bouma, Eddy Monte, Martin Greenwood, Hendrik Noorbergen, John Hartsen and Peter Williams.
1973
The school was officially opened on February 3rd, 1973. The official opening was attended and performed by the State member for Monbulk, Mr Bill Borthwick. It was a very hot Melbourne summer day, everyone who had been involved was there. The classrooms were not quite finished, but there was a buzz of excitement about being so close to realising their long-held dream of the school opening. 80 students commenced their schooling journey on February 5th, accompanied by 4 teachers — Mr Jack Mechielsen (Principal and Year 5 & 6), Mrs Beth Richardson (Prep and Year 1), Mrs Elizabeth Frost (Years 2, 3 and 4) and Mrs Nell Lanting (Relief Teacher, First Aid & Administration).
1974
The school was rapidly growing, which required the expansion to offering secondary education. Subsequently, five more classrooms were built and the student population increased to 155.
1975
There were 224 students enrolled by 1975 which required more staff to be employed and six blocks of land were sold along Hawkins Road to finance the proposed development of the Senior School.
2023
We celebrated our 50th Anniversary, inviting former staff, Association members and Alumni to celebrate with us and observe where the school is now. We are now a multi-campus school, with a trade campus, Ranges TEC, situated in Lilydale. Parent partnership is still foundational to what MECS believes. We now have second and third generations of students from our founding families coming through the school, as well as many other families who have joined the MECS journey along the way.