Rangi Ruru Girls' School

Rangi Ruru Girls' School
Te Koraha, the administration building of Rangi Ruru
Address
59 Hewitts Road, Merivale, Christchurch,
Coordinates	43°31′09″S 172°37′03″E / 43.5192°S 172.6175°E / -43.5192; 172.6175Coordinates: 43°31′09″S 172°37′03″E / 43.5192°S 172.6175°E / -43.5192; 172.6175
Information
Type	Independent Single sex girls Intermediate and Secondary (Year 7-13) school with boarding facilities (Boarding from Year 7)
Motto	Whaia to te rangi ("Seek the heavenly things")
Established	1889
Ministry of Education Institution no.	325
Principal	Dr Sandra Hastie
School roll	615(February 2017)
Socio-economic decile	10
Website	RangiRuru.school.nz (requires plugin)

Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand private girls' day and boarding secondary school located in Merivale, an inner suburb of Christchurch. The school is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church, and serves approximately 615 girls from Years 7 to 13 (ages 10 to 18).

The school was founded in 1889 when Frederick Gibson bought a school run in Papanui by friends of his, Ada, Kate and Jessie Gresham, who were moving to Australia. The school had 18 students, aged 5 to 16 years old. Initially Gibson's daughters Alice and Helen and their mother Mary ran the school, calling it "Miss Gibson's Private School for Girls". In 1891 the school moved to a building in Webb Street and was renamed Rangi Ruru, meaning "wide sky-shelter". This name had been suggested by a Māori chief of Rapaki Pa, Paora Taki, a friend of Frederick Gibson. Helen Gibson continued as Principal and her sisters Alice, Ethel, Ruth and Winifred joined as teachers. The school prospered under Helen Gibson's leadership, and grew to over 200 students at the time of her death in 1938. From 1938 until the sale of the school in 1946, Ethel Gibson was principal; her sisters continued to assist and support her.

The school moved to its present site in 1923, as the Webb Street building was becoming too small. Te Koraha, the original house on the site, had been the home of the Rhodes family.

The Rangi Ruru Board of Governors was established in 1946 when Presbyterian Church members purchased the school from the Gibson family. While the Christchurch Presbytery approves appointments, the board is autonomous.

In the early 1980s the school wanted to have an on-site chapel, while simultaneously the congregation of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at Hospital Corner was declining. It was decided to relocate the church to the school site, and in 1985 the building was moved to land adjacent to the school on Merivale Lane. The church became known as "St Andrew's at Rangi Ruru".

Rangi Ruru is consistently one of New Zealand's highest-achieving schools in academic achievement.