An Auckland charter school is to name its new Henderson campus after late Kiwi sports coaching legend Jack Ralston, just over a year after it was founded.
Middle School West Auckland, part of the Villa Education Trust, will be opening Jack Ralston House to 180 students in time for term three, providing them with classrooms, science facilities, a design and technology suite and whanau area.
Mr Ralston died in 2012 after battling with leukaemia. He worked with high-profile athletes such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and New Zealand's own Hamish Carter leading up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
He also spent time with Nelson Mandela in South Africa before the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and with the Brazil national football team.
Jack Ralston (Supplied)
Villa Education Trust academic manager Alwyn Poole has worked at Mt Hobson Middle School, another school run by the trust, for the past 14 years.
He says Mr Ralston is not only a remarkable New Zealander, but one that coached his own triathlete son.
"We had heard of Jack Ralston but when we looked him up we saw there was a Jack Ralston that worked for Nike International, one who'd worked for GymSports New Zealand, one who'd worked for the New Zealand Rugby Union...and so we thought 'well which one was it?' Turned out to be the one Jack Ralston doing all these remarkable things."
Jack Ralston House (Supplied)
He says Mr Ralston would go to their Mt Hobson school and lead running with the students.
"He coached [my son] Michael, and we've known Jack for a long, long time. In 64 years, Jack almost lived three or four lives."
Marg Ralston, wife of Mr Ralston, talked it over with her family and was pleased for the building to be named after her late husband.
"I thought about what are Jack's values...he was very involved in helping young people reach their potential.
"He would help them to set goals and achieve at whatever level they could."
Middle School West Auckland has been open since February 2015, and Mr Poole says the school roll is increasing.
It already has two sites -- the Pohutukawa Villa in Henderson and two villas in Glendene.
Each class has a maximum of 15 students in Year's 7-10, who work on eight cross-curricular projects per year as well as three classes each weekday morning. This adds up to 32 projects per year.
However, the school has had its fair share of difficulties.
"We had some challenges in our first year. One of our staff members died in a motor accident, we had some press that wasn't favourable, so all sorts of things alongside the great good that was being done," says Mr Poole.
He says the school was accused of bribing children, in response to the school's practise of providing the students with uniform and stationery, and not asking parents for donations.
"At both of our schools we are setting up a saving scheme so parents will be able to contribute $12-17 a week, because that's effectively the money they're saving by coming to our schools, and then it will be a parent-managed investment fund.
"Which means for families that have been with us for four years, they can save up to $3500 that helps their children with their next stage of education."
But he's hoping Jack Ralston House will be the final piece of the puzzle to make the school a "long-term success", and will boost student numbers even more.
"We also think acknowledging Jack and his contribution is building a tradition and a heritage, and each generation should know the things the previous generation have done to put their opportunities in place.
"It certainly wasn't a throwaway to call it Jack Ralston House, it was really well thought through."
Principal of Middle School West Auckland Alex Metzger says the new building "is a truly superb learning space which will be enjoyed by all who work and study there."
Alex Metzger (Supplied)
The new campus will be on Lincoln Rd. Its opening day is Saturday June 11, and students' first day will mark the beginning of term three, July 25.
Schools under the Villa Education Trust work under an integrated project-based education system, which aligns with the New Zealand curriculum.
The trust also opened South Auckland Middle School at the beginning on 2014, with a roll total of 180 expected next year.
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