John Curtin Senior High School

John Curtin College of the Arts
The main entrance to the school.
Location
Fremantle, W.A  Australia
Coordinates	32°02′55″S 115°45′26″E / 32.0487°S 115.7573°E / -32.0487; 115.7573Coordinates: 32°02′55″S 115°45′26″E / 32.0487°S 115.7573°E / -32.0487; 115.7573
Information
Type	Public, Co-educational
Motto	Learning for life
Established	1956
Principal	Mitchell Mackay
Enrolment	1,106 (9 February 2015)
Campus	Suburban
Colour(s)	Navy blue & white
Website	www.jc.wa.edu.au

John Curtin College of the Arts located in a corner block with Ellen Steet on its southern side, and East Street to its east, is a six-year high school with local student intake from the greater Fremantle area, and intake for gifted and talented arts and soccer programmes from across Western Australia. The school currently has 1,106 students attending.

Originally named John Curtin High School to commemorate John Curtin, the late local federal MP and 14th Prime Minister of Australia, the school was built at an estimated cost of ₤430,000 to amalgamate the overcrowded Fremantle Boys' and Princess May Girls' schools, the two state secondary schools serving the Fremantle area. The foundation stone was laid on 29 October 1954 by Premier Hawke. Jack Howieson, principal of Fremantle Boys', was appointed the initial principal. In February 1956, classes began in the first stage of the new school, while work continued on the construction of second and third stages with completion in 1958. During the first decade of the school's operation a number of annexes were dotted around Fremantle and included Princess May Annexe (Princess May Girls' School (fmr)), Finnerty Street Annexe (Fremantle Arts Centre), Fremantle Boys' Annexe (Film and Television Institute), the North Fremantle Annexe (North Fremantle Primary School (fmr)) and the East Street Trades Centre (Manual Arts Building).

John Curtin has elements of an earlier education building campaign on the site, a two storey brick Manual Trades Block that was constructed circa 1943 after an existing Fremantle Technical School manual arts building in South Terrace was taken over for defence purposes in 1941 and in view of the then proposals for the erection of a new Fremantle Technical High School.

The science annexe, built later than the main school, was funded by a Commonwealth Government grant under the 1960s era Commonwealth Laboratory program. A new arts centre was added in 1987.