Partly to relieve overcrowding but mainly to create an educational environment free of the distractions of post-war Melbourne, Isabel Henderson decided to relocate the school.
In 1921 Clyde Woodend became a public school after a vigorous fund-raising campaign by a number of well-connected Old Girls.
The following year, Isabel Henderson retired to England and Dorothy Tucker, a domestic science teacher from New Zealand, took over as principal.
After a short interregnum under Helen Mathieson, the school appointed Olga Hay, a protégé and old family friend of Isabel Henderson, as headmistress in 1937.
Strongly influenced by her forward-thinking mentor Isabel Henderson, Olga Hay began her tenure with a raft of innovations.
A highly respected educationist, Montgomery embarked on a modernisation program that included a purpose-built library and science laboratories.
Before she left Clyde in 1968, Montgomery recommended that the school open its doors to ‘day girls’ to increase its catchment.