Regional associations

the kindergarten community

Auckland

Auckland - Wellsford Counties Manakau - Franklin

Northern Auckland - East Coast Bays (Torbay)

Auckland Kindergarten Association

The AKA was established on 8 October 1908 with the aim of providing free kindergarten services to Auckland. The Association’s first free kindergarten in Auckland was established in Freemans Bay. Sir John Logan Campbell and his wife Lady Campbell donated the funds and equipment to enable the AKA to go ahead with the project. The kindergarten was opened on 19 October 1910 and still remains in operation today. The flagship kindergarten of the AKA, Myers Kindergarten, situated in Myers Park on Queen Street was opened 16 October 1916 and now operates as KiNZ Myers Park, an all day early learning centre. The kindergarten was donated to the AKA by Sir Arthur Myers who had also presented Myers Park to Auckland. Mrs Leo Myers and other Myers family members are credited with establishing the AKA. From its humble beginnings in 1908, the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA) now oversees 107 kindergartens, with over 14,000 children attending each year, and employing over 800 permanent and relieving teachers, head office and support staff.

Visit the Auckland Kindergarten Association website here.

75 Year Jubilee. A History of the Auckland Kindergarten Association [pdf 8.6MB]

Moving with the times. 100 years of the Auckland Kindergarten Association [pdf 8.4MB]

Also see:

Cosson, Betty (1970) A history of the training of kindergarten teachers in Auckland 1908–1948, unpublished investigation for DipEd University of Auckland
Heslop, Jane (1990) Early childhood care and education as social control: An examination of the kindergarten training curriculum in Auckland between 1910 and 1990, unpublished MPhil thesis, University of Auckland
Bethell, K., (2016) 100 Years Young: Celebrating a century at the Myers Kindergarten. Auckland: Auckland Kindergarten Association

The archives of the AKA are held in the Grey Collections of the Auckland Public Library catalogued under NZMS1275.