During the early 20th century, the borough of Mount Albert was one of the fastest growing areas of Auckland.

[3] In 1920, the New Zealand Government purchased a property on Kowhai Street in Kingsland to alleviate these issues.

While Kingsland residents expected the government to establish a primary school on the site, the Department of Education decided to experiment with the facility, establishing the first intermediate school in the country.

[3] Intermediate schools were established as education specialists during the 1920s had begun to recognise early adolescence as a key time during development, and that this period of life needed special treatment in education.

[6] In 2006, the school opened a Samoan language bilingual unit, Gafoa le Ata.