First opening in 1965, the school was originally named Kaka St Special School, changing its name in 2010, principal Barrie Wickens said.
Tauranga Special School Principal, Barrie Wickens, has been with the school for 23 years.
The school is home to 122 children with a maximum capacity of 127, aged 5 to 21, who are on the autistic spectrum or have physical and sensory impairments.
“We have some students that could be here for 16 years,” he said.
When Wickens started at the school two decades ago, there were 52 students.
Kristen Hall, and Nikora Finnerty at Tauranga Special School. Photo / Tom Eley
“Now it sounds like it’s taken 23 years to get double size.”
The school faced some unique challenges because of the limited student capacity and had a waitlist of 19 families, he said.
Alongside the base school that comprises four separate teaching rooms and students, there are two offsite community classes and four that various schools host.
The Devonport Road Campus.
The classrooms are Tauranga Intermediate, Pāpāmoa College, Te Kura o Manunui, Welcome Bay Primary, Tauranga Community College Campus, Devonport Road Campus and the Specialist Teacher Outreach Service.
“We call these satellites because it’s like the old space scenario, you know, with this as the mother ship (18th Avenue),” he said.
There is no school zone that Tauranga Special School has to adhere to, but has a catchment from Katikati township to Paengaroa.
The class and specialist teams work side by side to help these children and their families reach obtainable goals, according to the Tauranga Special School Prospectus.