Whangārei Girls' High School opened in 1881 alongside
Whangārei Boys' High School. In 2014, the school renamed a house that was named after
Richard Seddon, an opponent of women's suffrage, to Sheppard House, named after
Kate Sheppard, at the request of a student. In 2017 the school started construction on 10 new classrooms, which was expected to cost $6.8 million. The block was named Manawa Ora (New Beginning). It was opened in March 2018. In November 2018 the school won the Ngā Tohu Kairangi Special Commendation Award at the
Māori Language Awards. In 2023, a
TikTok video inspired by the 2021
litter boxes in schools hoax went
viral, making baseless claims about student and staff behaviour. The acting principal at the time said that "none of this has any truth to it at all" and referred the incident to New Zealand online safety agency
Netsafe. == References ==