Juliet Cooper

As the Principal of Port Phillip Specialist School, Juliet Cooper has been invited to board meetings as a guest since 2016 and officially became a board member in May 2019.

With a background of working in TAFE and higher education for 15 years where there a strong focus on governance, audits, curriculum and courses, Juliet was longing for the interaction and to be able to first hand observe the students grow and develop in their learning. In 2010 she was the Physical Education teacher for PPSS and became the Assistant Principal in 2012. Then heading overseas to Singapore she became the Inaugural Principal of Melbourne Specialist International School Singapore for 2 years then returned to PPSS in 2016 as the Assistant Principal and part time Acting Principal. She has been Principal since late 2018.

Juliet was very proud of the Foundation funding of the hospitality kitchen. Whilst observing the board funding the swimming pool, the house, the junior playground; the kitchen was a project which Juliet was consulted on and able to provide guidance from inception to delivery. Since stepping into the Principal role, she is no longer seeking to solely raise funds through the traditional school balls and footy breakfasts but is helping drive sophisticated fundraising through grant application processes matched with school fundraising. This is how Juliet believes students will best be assisted by helping fund specific equipment to give the students the best outcomes in line with their Individual Development Plans.

Outside of school and her family, Juliet has sat on the Board of Triathlon Victoria 2013/2014 and has undertaken 6 Ironman Triathlons and many shorter distance Triathlons. Anything that includes cycling and running is of high interest to her.