Mount Aspiring College


Mount Aspiring College is a state coeducational secondary school located in Wanaka, New Zealand. 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, who usually come to Mount Aspiring in order to attend its well-known Outdoor Pursuits programme.
The school has a reputation in New Zealand as a modern, dynamic institution. It is also noted for its rapid growth in its roll, usually attributed to the Outdoor Pursuits programme and the population explosion of Wanaka, and in its academic achievement.

Enrolment

Mount Aspiring College is naturally zoned by the school's isolation, therefore does not need to operate an enrolment scheme. The school's effective service area extends north to Makarora, east to Tarras and Queensberry, south to Cardrona, and west to the Southern Alps.
At the August 2015 Education Review Office review of the school, the school had 789 students enrolled, including 39 international students. The school roll's gender composition was 51% male and 49% female. The ethnic composition was 88% European, 7% Māori, 3% Asian, and 2% Other.
At the September 2019 Education Review Office review of the school, the school had 1078 students enrolled, including 32 international students. The ERO report found

Principals

Mount Aspiring has four houses: Barker, Iron, Pisa and Roy. Each house represents a different mountain in the Wanaka 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.