Kamo Christian College began life as a private school in April 1980 to support the Christian beliefs of parents who attended Alive Church. Thirty Five 5 to 14 year old children of the church families formed the first student body of the school. The church bought a 7 acre motor camp and used the camp lounge and one unit as the first two classrooms. Offices for the students to work in had to be built, and monitors were needed to help in the running of the program. The parents and members of the church pitched in. When the church building was built, it became the main classroom. By 1987 there were about 80 students from new entrants to form five.
Kamo became a centre for the ACE movement in Northland. People came there for ACE training and experience. Teachers gathered annually for training and PD conferences. Students also gathered annually for sporting and cultural competitions called ‘student conventions.’ The tearooms on the site were sold in exchange for an additional 11 acres at the back of the property that became playing fields.
By 1991 the roll had increased to 140 and classes went all the way to form 7. In 1991 the Kamo Christian Teachers’ College was established and thus trained teachers on site. Many Kamo Teachers College graduates completed their official qualification with MASTERS Institute in the mid-90s.
In order to reduce costs for families the College integrated as a Special Character Area School in October 1996. Along with integration came the much needed finance to build purpose built school buildings. In 1999 a new two story building which included a staff room conference centre, classrooms and a gymnasium which doubled as an assembly hall was completed.
In the late 1990s Power Com was established and hosted by Kamo Christian College. This was a convention of Christian school students at which various performing arts and sports competitions were held. Schools from all over the North Island participated. Typically there were over 200 students in attendance.
In 2005, Marsden Christian School became a satellite of Kamo Christian College. This enabled the Marsden families to benefit from integration.
Five classrooms were added to the gymnasium building in 2004. Contractors, church members, school staff, and sometimes students, teamed together, and completed the addition early 2005. In addition the school bought an old hotel building to bring onto the property. In time this has been modified to become the school office, staff room and teaching spaces.
In 2008 the Marsden Christian School campus closed and the students moved to Kamo Christian College.
It was also around this time that it was decided to change the name of the school. This required a new Integration agreement under the name Excellere College. For about a decade the roll has typically been just under 200.
Integration has meant that the College has continued to grow, while offering greater options in the Senior College. NCEA Courses are now embedded, without compromising the Christian world-view.
In 2015 the school welcomed new Proprietors, the New Zealand Christian Proprietors Trust (NZCPT) and the Whangarei Christian Education Trust (WCET).
In 2017 WCET was successful in purchasing the property, and embarked on the development of a 20-year plan, in conjunction with NZCPT. NZCPT was also successful in gaining a roll-cap increase to 230. 2018 began with 200 students, the highest the school has had.
In 2019 the roll cap was again increased to 300. New classrooms were added in 2019, housing Science, Art and Music. More rooms were added in 2020, to allow for further growth. We started 2021 with 266 students, and expect to approach our roll cap during 2022.
