Longburn Adventist College
| Longburn Adventist College | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Walkers Road, Longburn, Manawatu | |
| Coordinates | 40°23′22″S 175°33′27″E / 40.3894°S 175.5575°ECoordinates: 40°23′22″S 175°33′27″E / 40.3894°S 175.5575°E |
| Information | |
| Type | State Integrated Co-Ed Secondary School (Year 7-13) with Boarding Facilities |
| Motto | Commitment and Excellence |
| Established | 1908 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 191 |
| Principal | B. Sharp |
| School roll | 291 |
| Socio-economic decile | 6 |
| Website | lac.school.nz |
Longburn Adventist College is an integrated co-educational Christian school in New Zealand for years 7 to 13. It is located just west of Palmerston North in the Manawatu District in the small dairy town of Longburn. From the 26 February 2009 the college had 291 pupils enrolled.
History
The college was founded by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1908 and was originally sited at Pukekura, near Cambridge. The founder principal was Pastor Frank Chaney from Massachusetts. He was the principal, and was responsible for the design and construction of the original school, built largely with volunteer student labour.[1]
A decision was made to relocate the college to Longburn in 1913 to be closer to the centre of the country's population at that time. Initially the college at Longburn was known as the 'Oroua Missionary College'.
In the early days of the college, the focus was on training young people for missionary service and most students worked, as well as studied, to pay their fees.[1] The college ran a dairy farm, commercial vegetable garden, glasshouses, a basket factory and a lampshade business and it was from these enterprises that students earned their fees. Subjects originally offered included building construction, agriculture, secretarial and Bible work.[1]
After World War II
Following World War II, secondary school classes were added to the courses offered at Longburn and in the 1960s the first year of a BA in Theology was offered.[1] Primary teacher training was offered in the early 1970s until 1990. Up until the 1970s most Longburn students were boarders, but day students began to increase in numbers as local residents took advantage of the secondary schooling offered at Longburn.
In the late 1980s the college began to struggle for student numbers as the fees needed to run a private school excluded a number of potential students.[1]
In 1993 Longburn became a fully state-integrated school operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and student numbers have increased to around the 280-300 mark each year.
Longburn Adventist College is now a Year 7-13 school with the majority of the students being day students, mainly from the Palmerston North area.
New principal
In 2006 the school's roll was approved by the Ministry of Education for an increase. This was met with much relief, meaning more options available for students to choose from as well as helping the school to rise up from the financial difficulties it had faced since before previous principal Brian Mercer. In 2006 Mercer and vice principal Terry Rogers resigned from their roles to return to Australia. The new principal announced was Bruce Sharp who has now taken the role. Sharp was already a teacher at the school when he applied for the position.[2]
Reunion
The school celebrated its 100th anniversary in March 2008 by publishing a book.
Former names
- Pukekura Training School (Cambridge) 1908-1912
- Oroua Missionary College 1913-1923
- New Zealand Missionary College 1924-1966
- Longburn College 1967-1985
- Longburn Adventist College 1986-
See also
- List of schools in New Zealand
- List of Seventh-day Adventist secondary schools
- Seventh-day Adventist education
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Longburn Adventist College (2010). "History of LAC". Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- ↑ November 15, 2006 School Newsletter
External links
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