A Hamilton-based Maori primary school could be expanded into a Maori high school so past students at other secondary schools can return there.
Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Whakawatea opened its doors in 1994, and was created to take the students from the local Maori pre-school, Te Kohanga Reo o Whakawatea, which was set up three years earlier.
About 130-students, between Years zero to eight, are enrolled at Whakawatea School.
Kura principal Susanne Simmons-Kopa says the whanau at the school has been considering applying to become a wharekura - a Maori High school.
She says one reason for the idea has come because some of its graduates aren't doing well elsewhere, and not meeting their full potential.
Ms Simmons-Kopa says the kura whanau are excited about a potential wharekura.
She says if the school does happen she would like the wharekura to operate single sex classrooms because she says pupils appear to learn better in that environment.
Ms Simmons-Kopa says it could also introduce individual student learning programmes, and she would like the proposed wharekura to provide learning that meets a student's ideal career path.
Susanne Simmons-Kopa hasn't ruled out the possibility of a charter school for any possible wharekura.
