East Otago High School

East Otago High School is a secondary school in Palmerston, Otago, New Zealand. The school hosted a cultural exchange with Japanese pupils from Nichidai Third Junior High School between 2005 and 2008.^[3] They won the 2009 Otago Daily Times Extra spelling Quiz for Year 9 and 10.^[4]

East Otago High School
East Otago High School in 2008, looking west from Horse Range Road
Address
Stour Street, Palmerston
Coordinates	45.479798°S 170.721971°E / -45.479798; 170.721971
Information
Type	State Co-Ed Secondary (Year 7–13)
Motto	Vis Recte Vivere
Established	1885
Ministry of Education Institution no.	371
Chairperson	Peggy Bridger
Principal	Marcus Cooper
School roll	191[1] (March 2025)
Socio-economic decile	6N[2]
Website	www.eohs.school.nz

History

East Otago High School traces its origins to 1865, with the establishment of Palmerston School. In 1885, Palmerston District High School was established, and in 1969, the school demerged to become Palmerston School and East Otago High School.^[5]

Enrolment

As of March 2025, East Otago High School has roll of 191 students, of which 45 (23.6%) identify as Māori.^[1]

As of 2025, East Otago High School has an Equity Index of 486,^[6] placing it amongst schools whose students have above average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to decile 4 under the former socio-economic decile system).^[7]