Mount Aspiring College is a state coeducational secondary school in

Wānaka Wānaka () is a popular ski and summer resort town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. At the southern end of Lake Wānaka, it is at the start of the Clutha River/Mata-Au and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It was founded in 1986 after the division of Wanaka Area School into separate primary and secondary schools. The college, though normally a day school, operates a hostel beside the school grounds for 30 Year 13 students.

Enrolment

Mount Aspiring College is naturally zoned by the school's isolation (the nearest alternative secondary school is Cromwell College, 55 kilometres away in

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

), therefore does not need to operate an enrolment scheme. The school's effective service area extends north to

Makarora Makarora is a small community within the Queenstown-Lakes District of the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated on on the eastern side of the Haast Pass and adjacent to the Makarora River. Local tourism operators o ...

, east to Tarras and Queensberry, south to Cardrona, and west to the Southern Alps. At the August 2015

Education Review Office The Education Review Office (ERO) (Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture ...

(ERO) review of the school, the school had 789 students enrolled, including 39

international student International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

s. The school roll's gender composition was 51% male and 49% female. The ethnic composition was 88% European (Pākehā), 7%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, 3% Asian, and 2% Other. At the September 2019

(ERO) review of the school, the school had 1078 students enrolled, including 32

s. The ERO report found

School houses

Mount Aspiring has four houses: Barker, Iron, Pisa and Roy. Each house represents a different mountain in the Wānaka area. The houses are each assigned a colour: Barker is green, Iron is red, Pisa is yellow and Roy is blue. The houses compete during the year to win the house shield. Examples of activities are Cross Country running, Skiing, Swimming, Singing competition, 40 Hour Famine, Athletics and Tug of War. Before 2002, when the roll grew too large, the school had three houses, Wilkin, Clutha and Hunter, named after local rivers. Prior to that, there were only two houses, East and West.

Principals

* 1989–1998: Michael (Mike) Allison * 1998–2008:Mount Aspiring College newsletter, 16 April 2008
/ref> Maurice (Maurie) Jackways * 2008–2020: Wayne Bosley * 2020–2021: Dean Sheppard (acting) * 2021–present : Nicola Jacobsen

Hostel Program

The College operates a year 13 boarding program and intakes 30 students each year, the program is notable for its intensive outdoor pursuits program, which runs alongside daily time-tabled classes. The Mount Aspiring College Village consists of five custom-built flats, constructed in 1996. Each flat is named after notable landmarks in the local area; Arawhata- named after

Arawhata River The Arawhata River (often spelt with the Ngāi Tahu Māori dialect spelling ''Arawata River'') is in the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. The river has its headwaters in the Mount Aspiring National Park. It drains the we ...

, Avalanche- named after Avalanche Peak (New Zealand), Cascade- named after Cascade Saddle (Located in

Mount Aspiring National Park Mount Aspiring National Park is in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, north of Fiordland National Park, situated in Otago and Westland regions. The park forms part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. Geography Estab ...

), Liverpool- named afte
Liverpool Hut
and Rob Roy- named after Rob Roy Glacier

Notable alumni

* Ellesse Andrews (born 1999), Olympic track cyclist *

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott Zoi Katherine Sadowski-Synnott (, born 6 March 2001) is a New Zealand snowboarder, specialising in slopestyle and big air competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's slopestyle and silver in the big air at the 2022 Winter Olympics, b ...

(born 2001), Olympic snowboarder

References

External links

School websiteEducation Review Office (ERO) reports for Mount Aspiring CollegeERO report
{{Authority control Boarding schools in New Zealand Educational institutions established in 1986 Secondary schools in Otago Wānaka 1986 establishments in New Zealand