The windows are boarded and the paint has peeled from the walls – there’s a lot to be done on one of New Zealand’s oldest boarding schools before it’s fit for students.

St Stephen’s School, also called Te Kura o Tīpene, opened in 1848 and was closed around 150 years later amid bullying allegations and performance concerns.

But its community never gave up. After two decades of advocacy from alumni, the school is finally getting ready to reopen.

Stuff got to have a sneak peek inside St Stephen’s iconic buildings ahead of its makeover.

Past pupil Nathan Durie (Ngāti Kauwhata) and his wife Yvette McCausland-Durie are leading the school’s revival. They’ll co-run it when the school opens in 2025.

“It [Tīpene] has played a big part of my life,” Durie said. “It was okay to be Māori there. It was celebrated. I had never experienced that.”

Durie attended St Stephen’s in 1977 and worked there twice as an adult, once as vice-principal. He sees the potential for the school to help erase the achievement gap Māori boys face.

“You can affect change. We want to re-establish the way we educate people, so that we can become a model of excellence… particularly for indigenous groups,” Durie said.

“There needs to be a greater focus on teaching people. How do you engage people, how do you enthuse them? How to give them greater purpose and a sense of responsibility?”

When St Stephen’s closed in 2000, its role had fallen to about 80 students.

The role will be even smaller when it re-opens in 2025, with space for just 30 students. But it is likely to fill up fast – St Stephen’s School has already received 150 enrolment applications.

The interest is a mark of how important the school is to its community, Durie said.

“It gave you a sense of belonging. Too often schools have already put students into a quadrant that says they are failures.

“We left Tīpene with a sense of accomplishment,” he said.

An impressive list of Māori leaders, politicians and sports stars – including Shane Jones, Te Ururoa Flavell and former All Black Dallas Seymour – all count themselves among the ranks of former St Stephen’s students.

Adam Martin, general manager of the Anglican Church trust board that owns the property, said the demolition phase of construction has been finished.

Lead has been ripped out of old walls, asbestos-ridden floors were removed, and entire buildings had to be scrapped.

That alone cost around $4 million, and there’s a lot more to come.

Martin said care has been taken to preserve the three main buildings: “They hold a lot of sentimental value.”

St Stephen’s construction has not been funded by the Ministry of Education, and the school’s structure – special character school, charter school or private school – is yet to be decided.

The construction won’t be fully complete by the time the school reopens. Some buildings won’t be ready for students until 2030, Martin said.

But he’s excited to see the old schoolrooms in use again.

“The support for this has been amazing,” he said.

Soon-to-be St Stephen’s co-principal Nathan Durie is also geared up to go: “We have big goals”.

Clarification: This story previously reported St Stephen’s School was the oldest boarding school in New Zealand. It is one of the oldest.