Palmerston North Girls' High School is a secondary school for girls, located in the suburb of West End in the city of Palmerston North, New Zealand.
The main entrance of the school is located on Fitzherbert Avenue, near the Victoria Esplanade. Adjacent to the North are Huia Street and the Manawatu Lawn Tennis Club. Behind the school is Manawaroa/Ongley Park.
In 1902, Palmerston North High School was a co-ed secondary school created with an initial roll of 84 students (40 boys and 44 girls). The first classes were held at St Andrews Presbyterian Church Sunday School hall.
In 1912, Palmerston North High School was split into two single-sex schools: Palmerston North Girls’ High School and Palmerston North Boys’ High School.
Palmerston North Girls' High School is divided into four houses. On enrolment, students are placed in a house at random, or into a house with family ties if possible. Staff are also placed in the houses. Each house is named after a former principal of the school.
The house names and colours are as follows:
The student councils organise events, many of which contribute to the inter-house competition and points towards the award of the Nash Cup.
At the September 2010 Education Review Office (ERO) review, Palmerston North Girls' High School had 1202 students enrolled, including 22 international students. 64 percent of students identified as New Zealand European (Pākehā), 17 percent identified as Māori, three percent as Pacific Islanders, and 16 percent as another ethnicity.[3]
As of March 2025, Palmerston North Girls' High School has roll of 1,353 students, of which 266 (19.7%) identify as Māori.[1]
As of 2025, Palmerston North Girls' High School has an Equity Index of 433,[4] placing it amongst schools whose students have below average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to decile 7 under the former socio-economic decile system).[5]