St Andrew's College, Christchurch

St Andrew's College, also known as StAC, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is a private, co-educational school that enrols from pre-school to secondary Year 13. It was founded in 1917 and it is the only independent, co-educational primary and secondary school in New Zealand's South Island. Although now a fully co-educational school, it was formerly an all-boys school. It became fully co-educational in 2001. The current rector of St Andrew's College is Christine Leighton.

History
St Andrew's College was founded by Rev. Alexander Thomas Thompson in 1917 in the Scottish Presbyterian tradition of the Christian faith. The school began in a humble fashion with 19 boys and four teachers, driven by the determination of the Reverend Thompson, whose driving ambition was to 'educate the sons of the Presbyterian and Scottish community of Canterbury.'

StAC had three boarding houses for the 165 boarders of years 9 to 13: MacGibbon (years 9 to 11) and Rutherford (years 11 to 13) for boys, and Thompson (years 9 to 13) for girls. Boarding facilities were damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake; as a result, the boarders lived in local motels until the new boarding houses were opened at the start of 2013. Thompson and Rutherford houses have been demolished and replaced with new facilities while McGibbon House has been refurbished and strengthened. Boarding used to be available for year 7 and 8 students, but is no longer provided. St Andrew's College has four houses: Rutherford, MacGibbon, Thompson and Erwin.

On 31 October 2008, the students and teachers of St Andrew's College set a world record for the largest school mass dance with a recital of the YMCA.

In 2020, students of the school reported that a teacher tore down posters and verbally abused them for promoting the Black Lives Matter movement. The school conducted an investigation but did not publish the outcome.

Plans
The 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake severely damaged the school chapel and forced the closure of the school arts block and Strowan house, which both sustained some structural damage, however, most of the schools buildings were relatively undamaged, and the arts block has since been repaired and strengthened. Strowan house has now re-opened, and a new chapel has been built which incorporates design features from the original chapel. In late 2014 Erwin house was demolished to make room for a second gymnasium.

Recently the school has opened three new buildings including a fitness centre and a new library. The school expects to open a new theatre complex by November 2023.

Rectors
The following is a complete list of the rectors of St Andrew's College:

Notable alumni

 * Albert Anderson (born 1961), rugby union player
 * Mark Abbott (born 1991), rugby union player
 * Andrew Bird (born 1967), Olympic coxswain
 * Ben Blair (born 1979), rugby union player
 * John Britten (1950–1995), inventor
 * Scott Cartwright (born 1954), rugby union player
 * Mark Chignell (born 1956), human factors researcher
 * Rod Donald (1957–2005), Member of Parliament
 * Joe Earl (born 1952), Olympic rower
 * Mick Ensor, a highly decorated pilot who served with Coastal Command during the Second World War
 * Peter Gordon (1921–1991), Member of Parliament and cabinet minister
 * Eliza Grigg, alpine ski racer
 * Chris Harris (born 1969), cricketer
 * Hamish Hay (1927–2008), former Mayor of Christchurch
 * Phil Keoghan (born 1967), television presenter and host
 * Roy Kerr (born 1934), mathematician
 * Chris King (born 1981), rugby union player
 * Richie Mo'unga (born 1994), rugby union player
 * Carl Nixon (born 1967), novelist, short story writer and playwright
 * Gordon Ogilvie (1934–2017), historian
 * Tim Perry (rugby union) (born 1988), rugby union player
 * Jack Rumbold (1920–2001), cricketer and colonial legal administrator
 * Sir Ieremia Tabai (born 1950), first president of Kiribati (1979–1991), politician
 * Philip Woollaston (born 1944), politician; vintner
 * Hugh Wilson (born 1945), botanist
 * Richard Wilson (born 1953), rugby union player
 * Rodney Wilson (1945–2013), art historian and museum director
 * Alex Wyllie (born 1944), rugby union player
 * Telusa Veainu (born 1990), rugby union player