In 1866 they had 11 boys and 9 girls in one room on the Upper Plain opposite the current Fernridge School.

Masterton's first State School was founded in 1877 using premises in Dixon Street near the site of the current courthouse and the close by park for playgrounds.

These arrangements were soon replaced by Masterton Central School in Kuripuni which opened on 6 February 1882.

It became Masterton District High School in 1884 after adding classes in mathematics, Latin and French but there were insufficient secondary pupils and after 15 months it reverted to being Central.

[11] In the 1960s it was recognised the buildings needed to be renewed but, positioned across the entrance to town, the school's generous site had become commercially valuable.

The school's move to 53 South Road was completed at the end of 1970[12] and Kuripuni's triangle began to take on a quite different style and appearance.

Chanel College is a co-educational state-integrated Catholic secondary school for Year 7 to 13 students,[16] with a roll of 310 as of November 2024.