Mountainview High School

For the high school in Auburn, Washington, United States, see Auburn Mountainview High School.

Mountainview High School
Location
Pages Road, Timaru, New Zealand
Coordinates	44°22′36″S 171°13′06″E / 44.3767°S 171.2184°E / -44.3767; 171.2184Coordinates: 44°22′36″S 171°13′06″E / 44.3767°S 171.2184°E / -44.3767; 171.2184
Information
Type	State, Co-educational, Secondary
Established	1901
Ministry of Education Institution no.	359
Principal	Derek Friend
School roll	547
Socio-economic decile	6[1]
Website	mountainview.school.nz

Moutainview High School is a co-educational state high school in Timaru, New Zealand. The school runs from year nine to thirteen. The school had a roll of 547 students in 2007; around 40 are International students.^[2]

History

Mountainview High School was founded in 1901^[2] and originally named Timaru Technical College, later Timaru College. In 1983 the school relocated to the current Pages Road site and was renamed Mountainview High School. The Timaru Technical College site became Aoraki Polytechnic.

An adjacent site was also purchased by the Ministry of Education for a new 'Timaru North Intermediate' to coincide with Watlington Intermediate in the south of Timaru. After school numbers began to decline the plan was abandoned, and Watlington Intermediate closed in late 2004.^[3]

In 2005, Mountainview faced a merger alongside many other secondary schools within the proximity of the South Canterbury District due to educational changes as discussed with Education Minister of New Zealand, Trevor Mallard. Despite the unpopularity of this decision to close down schools to save tax payers money, many had to comply with governing rule. This resulted in students from other secondary schools (namely Pleasant Point High School) to transfer to Mountainview and integrate with the students already in attendance at Mountainview High School.

Changes to applications for Head Students (equivalent: Head Prefects) occurred in 2005 for the election of Head Students for the succeeding year. Three different processes were used to determine who would succeed. Initially designed to scope the student's ability for the role, it was deemed an effective method to help with the deciding making process. Firstly, an application including a curriculum vitae and cover letter outlining the student's interest in becoming a leader was submitted to the principal. Then students then proceeded to write and present a speech to the school body. A student and staff vote pursued, followed by an interview with the Head Academic staff was the solidifying factor for the determination of the succeeding students. This process has been entrenched in the systematic scheme in production of determining the Head Students.

As mentioned, adaptations to this system will be allowed, however this is now the generic process and is an effective method in securing able students to participate.

References

1. ^ Decile change 2007 to 2008 for state & state integrated schools
2. ^ ^{a b} "General information". Mountainview High School. http://www.mountainview.school.nz/international.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-03. 
3. ^ "State and state-integrated schools that have closed or been disposed of as the result of a merger since 1/1/1999" (PDF). http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/0703/PQ01717a.pdf.