User:Toydotgame/A.B. Paterson College

A.B. Paterson College is a private, non-denominational, co-educational K–12 school located in Arundel, Queensland, Australia. It is a member of the Gold Coast's Associated Private Schools sporting association.

History
A.B. Paterson College started as an idea "over a shared meal with four close friends" in 1989. Construction and land clearing efforts began in 1990 within the local Arundel community, and some initial and temporary classrooms were constructed. The school was scheduled to open in January of 1991, with an initial enrollment on opening day of 262 students between Prep and Year 9—growing to 305 by the end of the year. By 1994, the enrollment reached 670. Throughout the late 90s, more permanent structures were built for different uses (science labs, a childcare centre, more high school classrooms). In 2006, the Dawn Lang Performing Arts Centre was constructed on campus, named after sitting principal Dawn Lang. In 2008, the Mathematics Learning & Research Centre was opened, which featured mathematics classrooms and a home economics classroom. In 2010, A.B. Paterson completed the construction of the Dunlop Multi-Purpose Centre complex, containing physical education classrooms, indoor sports courts, and a gym. In 2012, the school introduced a program to provide every student between Years 4–12 with a personal laptop. In June 2019, the Winton Centre (named after the town in central Queensland) was opened. The Winton Centre is 4,500 m$2$ in size and cost.

Since 1994, A.B. Paterson College has run a school camp for Year 6 students to the town of Winton, Queensland. After purchasing a parcel of land in 2021, construction of the Barty's Place accommodation facility was completed and an opening ceremony was held on July 16, 2023.

In April 2024 the NFL announced the planned opening of an NFL Academy in Australia for September 2024. Additionally, a public dedicated on-campus "elite high-performance NFL Academy facility" was announced to be completed in 2026.

Media Attention
In 2017, A.B. Paterson College was brought under news media scrutiny after an incident at a spelling bee where a student who spelt the word "absence" correctly was marked as having it spelt incorrectly, with their point instead given to another student who had spelt the word incorrectly. The incident resulted in the mother of the student pulling him out of the school.

In October 2021, A.B. Paterson College revealed the Captain and Vice-Captaincy roles for 2022 as both being held by males. In the preceding years, there had been a general precedent of both male and female representation in the captaincy. The reaction from the parent base of the school was divided, with some saying that "if they picked two females the silence would be deafening"—in response the media's presentation of the issue. The school responded by saying that the selection process was "based on merit alone" and that there was no sexism involved in the process. The chosen captains for 2022 were not changed.

That same month, an incident occurred between mathematics teacher Travis Ronald Templar and a 12-year-old student where Templar reportedly kicked the student in the back, causing her to fall. When the incident was reported, Templar's employment was immediately ceased at the school.

A.B. Paterson College Foundation
A B Paterson College Foundation Ltd (trading as the A.B. Paterson College Foundation) is a registered charity founded in 2018 for the purpose of philantrophy through granting student scholarships and the "generation of the financial resources to enable the realisation of the College’s Masterplan [sic]."