Piripiri School is a  full primary school catering for Year 0 – 8 students. The roll is currently at 6 pupils.

Piripiri School is set on a hilltop, surrounded by farmland and native bush, bordered by two rivers.  Two minutes from the school is a ‘natural bridge’ formation, with a walkway through native bush and glow-worm caves.  Two minutes west of the school are the Piripiri Caves in which fossil are easily viewed.  Further west, by 5 minutes is the Marokopa Waterfall.

The school is situated 30 minutes west of Waitomo Caves.  Most of the children come from the west coast settlement of Marokopa and surroundings.

There is a fairly even mix of Māori and NZ European students. Many of our Māori whānau are whanau of Mirumiru Marae at Marokopa. 

Our students live  an active lifestyle and enjoy sports and outdoor recreation opportunities. They use the river and sea for water-based activities and are regularly involved in hunting, fishing and outdoor activities.

Marokopa, Te Anga and Piripiri regularly have difficulty with, or no access to telephone and/or electricity.  The school and communities uses rain tanks to get water.  The main road into Piripiri from Waitomo and onto Marokopa is prone to slips and flooding.  Both the school and surrounding areas are largely dependent on one another when difficulties occur.