The college was opened in 1961, with fewer than 200 pupils. The technology block, now Addams Building, was the only building established at the time of the school's opening. Like most New Zealand state secondary schools built in the 1960s, Glendowie College was built to the Nelson Two-Storey standard plan, with its two-storey H-shaped general classroom blocks.
Education
Glendowie College offers NCEA as its national qualification standard. An Advanced Learning Program is available in years 9 and 10 for highly intelligent students. Also, exceptionally gifted students are given the opportunity to accelerate into classes a year or two years ahead of their peers in order to progress their learning. For students Year 9-10 English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, P.E and Health are compulsory with students being able to choose from 4 options outside of these subjects. Those options are Art, Drama, Dance, Music, Chinese, German, Maori and Spanish. English is compulsory up until Year 12 and Math is only compulsory till year 11, besides these subjects students from year 11 onwards are allowed to choose 6 subjects in year 12 and 5 subjects in year 13. Glendowie provides students with a wide variety of subjects not limited to History, Geography, Economics, Accounting, German, Maori, Dance, Music, Art, Photography, Drama, Mandarin, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Food Technology, Computer Science, Classics, electronics, Building and Construction, Outdoor Education, Global Studies, Media Studies etc. The school performs well academically, and the Education Review Office has said that students are progressing and achieving very well.
Sport
Glendowie College offers a range of sporting opportunities including: cheer leading, badminton, underwater hockey, hockey, rugby, soccer, orienteering, cricket, lacrosse, rowing, running, volleyball, tennis and netball. Glendowie College also participates in the top level of School Rowing in New Zealand. It takes part in the annual Rowing Secondary School Championship, The Maadi Cup. Placing 1st in the Boys U18 lightweight coxed 4+ and the Girls U16 Coxed 8+, 2nd in the Boys U15 coxed 8+ and 3rd in the Boys U15 8+x in the 2015 Maadi Cup. During the 2017 season, the Boys U15 8+x received another bronze medal.
"Mad" Mike Whiddett - International Drift Driver and Ambassador for Motorsport in New Zealand
Buildings
The main buildings on the school grounds were originally named using letters from the alphabet, but in 2016 they renamed the buildings after past principals. The Adams Building was the only building established when the college opened in 1961. The buildings are:
E Block - Eddy Building
H Block - Hammer Building
Art and Tech Block - Adams Building
Library, Music Block and various classrooms - Sommerville Building
Progress: The school has been busy with property developments over the recent holiday period, with a lot of key infrastructural work installed. The skeleton of the new Science Block has now been erected and the school hopes to see completion in mid to late 2020.
Houses
Glendowie has four pastoral houses to encourage student participation in the arts, sports, culture and leadership. 1961 - 2017 Between 1961 and 2017 the four houses consisted of Asia, Europe, America and Pacific, named after four continents. Asia House was represented by the colour yellow/gold. Europe House sported green colours while America House wore red and Pacific, blue. 2018–Present At the conclusion of 2017, a decision was made to adjust the pastoral housing system to better suit the needs of modern students at the college. Four new houses were created and bore no resemblance to historic houses. Based off famous Māori myths and legends the four houses became Rūaumoko, Tāne Mahuta, Tangaroa and Tāwhirimātea. Ruamoko became associated with red. Tane Mahuta chose green, Tangaroa chose blue and Tawhirirmatea chose purple. The Dean pastoral system was redesigned in an effort to better support these changes. Prior to this, a Dean at the college would look after one specific year, following them from year nine to year thirteen. With the new changes, a Dean, and newly introduced Assistant Dean, would manage over one entire house. Form classes were also reassigned, previously they had been streamed and would represent a mix of houses within the class. The new change removed streamed form classes and changed to house classes. Upon joining Glendowie College future students are assigned one of the four houses randomly. If the student has a sibling at the college, past or present, they will likely be assigned that house for ease of communication between pastoral staff and parents.
50th Jubilee
On 1, 2 and 3 April 2011, Glendowie College held many events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the school's founding.
