supervise the use of the hospital as a school, which was originally named "Avondale Technical High School". As New Zealand was still virtually operating under war conditions, supplies and orders for the school were delayed. When it opened, the school was the only high school to operate in West Auckland, until Henderson High School opened in 1953. Recent history Since 1945, the seven principals of Avondale College (L.E. Titheridge, A.R. Stephenson, W.R. Familton, A.H. Burton, P. R. Raffills, B. Lewis, and L. Watkinson) have extended and rebuilt the buildings, redeveloped the site and grounds, created an outdoor education camp (Taurewa) in Tongariro National Park, established exchange schools in Japan and Noumea, developed business relationships with the local community, and installed advanced technologies for students and staff. On the evening of 10 April 1990, a major fire at the school destroyed the administration block, assembly hall, gymnasium, and thirteen classrooms. At its peak, 200 firefighters and 26 fire appliances fought the blaze. Notable events The school has been used as a location in several films and television commercials. These include the 1979 comedy-drama Middle Age Spread, 1981 horror film Dead Kids, 1995 feature film Bonjour Timothy (which was a joint New Zealand–Canadian production), Disney Channel movie Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off, and the Te Mana Advertisement. The school swimming pool, used in an advertisement for Lemon & Paeroa in 2006, has since been removed. The school was closed for the day on 24 October 2006, after a fatal stabbing outside its gates on Sunday evening 22 October 2006. Fourteen-year-old Manaola Kaume'afaiva died after being stabbed in the chest. Manaola, a student at the college, was attending a church event. In March 2009, a 17-year-old male exchange student stabbed a teacher in the back while he was teaching a Japanese class. The student was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $10,000 in reparation. On 18 August 2021, Avondale College was identified as a location of interest by health authorities following a community outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Buildings The Avondale College school grounds feature a science and IT building as well as a gymnasium, a maths and science block, sport fields, an astroturf complex, a theatre, orchestra pit and flexible seating which can hold up to 700 people. On 9 June 2006, the New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark visited