Parkway College, like most New Zealand state secondary schools built in the 1970s, was constructed the "S68" standard plan.

[7] However, the school's roll soon increased to 940 students,[8] requiring the relocatable classrooms to remain.

The old Wainuiomata College site was abandoned, and in 2005, it was used as the filming location for the first series of school-based comedy Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby.

Its effective service area is the entire Wainuiomata Valley, although it is easily accessible from most parts of Lower Hutt via the 160 "Wainuiomata North" public bus route, which stops outside the school and connects to Waterloo Interchange railway station and the Queensgate bus interchange in central Lower Hutt.

[14] In Years 9 and 10, English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education and Health are compulsory core subjects.

[14] In Years 11 to 13, students complete the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), the main secondary school qualification in New Zealand.