Mrs Wilde finished in her role at the end of Term 1 and after the Easter holidays she is to start work as principal of Tainui School.
Mrs Wilde was proud of her achievements at the small Otago Peninsula school.
Under her watch, the school achieved an excellent Education Review Office report, undertook a modern learning environment upgrade, and established a common room for Year 7 and 8 pupils, she said.
The school had a major information technology upgrade, including the creation of an e-learning hub, she said.
''It's important to foster in children a sense of who they are and what they can be and to give them as many opportunities as you can for their future world,'' she said.
Mrs Wilde was farewelled at Otakou Marae last week and at an assembly at the school.
Incoming principal Winnie Cornelissen was welcomed at the marae.
Mrs Wilde said she was looking forward to her role at Tainui School.
''I felt it was time to look for my next challenge at a bigger school.''
Tainui School had similar values to Portobello School. It valued positive education and was highly engaged with whanau and had a strong respect for tikanga and te reo Maori, she said.
However, Mrs Wilde would miss Portobello, especially the children, their families, and her staff.
She said the community had been hugely supportive of the school and acknowledged the fundraising efforts several groups had undertaken to help out, including the pool upgrade group, which had raised about $24,000 towards heating the school pool.
Mrs Wilde started teaching in 1991 at St Clair School and eventually rose to become principal there.
She worked for the Ministry of Education literature development office before moving to Portobello School.
- by Jonathan Chilton-Towle
