Whangaparāoa College
School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whangaparāoa College is a co-educational state secondary school on the Hibiscus Coast of New Zealand. The school has a roll of 1,948[2] students from Years 7 to 13 (as of March 2026), including international students.
| Whangaparāoa College | |
|---|---|
Māori: Kāreti o Whangaparāoa | |
| |
| Location | |
 | |
36.6317°S 174.7455°E | |
| Information | |
| Type | Non-Integrated co-ed, Composite (Year 7–13) |
| Motto | Together, Believe, Achieve (Ngatahi, Whakapono, Tutuki) |
| Established | 28 January 2005 |
Ministry of Education Institution no. | 6763 |
Principal | Steve McCracken[1] |
| Enrollment | 1,948[2] (March 2026) |
| Colours |
|
Socio-economic decile | 9Q[3] |
| Former names |
|
| Website | wgpcollege.school.nz |
History
Prior to the opening of Whangaparāoa College, Orewa College was the sole secondary school operating on the Hibiscus Coast.[4] Hibiscus Coast Intermediate School operated on the site now occupied by Whangaparāoa College.[5]
Announced in 2003,[4] and initially named Stanmore Bay Secondary School,[6] Whangaparāoa College opened on 28 January 2005[5] absorbing Hibiscus Coast Intermediate School.[5] Brian O'Connell served as founding principal until 2012.[7]
As one of several modern high schools to open in the early 2000s alongside Botany Downs Secondary College and Alfriston College,[8] the school's facilities and technology used are leaders in the New Zealand education system,[8] being only the third new high school to open since 1981.[9] Whangaparāoa College positions itself as an environmentally aware site.[10] Recently the school has departed from this environmentally aware stance, with the school increasing the use of AI generated art within its official media. [11]
Following O'Connell's departure, James Thomas served as principal from 2012.[12] In mid-2021, Steve McCracken took over as principal.[13]
Demographics
At the school's latest Education Review Office review in 2016,[14] Whangaparāoa College had 1285 students enrolled. Fifty-two percent of students were female and forty-eight percent were male. Seventy-eight percent of students identified as European New Zealanders (Pākehā), ten percent as Māori, four percent as Asian, two percent as Pasifika, and six percent as another ethnicity.[14]
Whangaparāoa College has an equity index rating of 447[15], placing it amongst schools whose students have below average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to decile 7 under the former socio-economic decile system).[16]
