On Friday the Longford Intermediate School closed its doors for the final time, and will reopen as the junior campus of Māruawai College next year.
Longford pupil Eli Alexander, 12, said it will be an adjustment next year when the school changes.
"It will be fine. I’m excited," Eli said.
He was in year 7 and would attend the junior campus next year, he said.
Mel Hamilton was announced as the principal of the school in April and said the transition to one school had gone well to this stage.
"We have been lucky enough to have an amazing group of teaching and support staff on both sites who have worked incredibly hard to make sure we offer an exceptional educational experience," Mrs Hamilton said.
They had been lucky to receive support from governance change manager Cleave Hay and the Ministry of Education, she said.
Once the merger was complete Māruawai College would be located on the Gore High School site.
However, in the interim, it would remain on two sites; a junior campus of years 7 and 8 at the Longford Intermediate site and a senior campus of years 9-13 at the Gore High site.
There would be 195 years 7 and 8 pupils on the junior site and 485 years 9-13 pupils on the senior site.
That would equate to 680 students across both campuses.
As part of the merger, Gore High would undergo redevelopment.
"We have met with several high-level ministry officials over the past few weeks with a view to progressing our redevelopment so we can come together on one site."
The ministry funding proposal for the redevelopment was set to go to Cabinet, she said.
"We remain optimistic that our year 7-13 students will be on one site in the near future with the state of the art facilities we have planned with architects."
Longford Intermediate Board of Trustees presiding member Leah Wilson has been the Māruawai Merged Committee chairwoman.
She said the change had made for a busy year for the board and staff.
"The beginning of Māruawai College is exciting for next year, but we also must remember we are saying goodbye to Longford Intermediate after 52 years in our community," Mrs Wilson said.
She was confident Māruawai College would be a place where students continued to thrive, achieve their full potential and feel a sense of belonging, she said.
The name Māruawai, meaning valley of water, was gifted by Kāi Tahu at a ceremony in May.
- By Ben Andrews
