John Paul College is a secondary school in Rotorua, New Zealand. It caters for year 7 to 13 boys and girls and offers a Catholic education to its students. It was opened in 1987 and combined two existing schools, Edmund Rice College (for boys) and MacKillop College (for girls). The school was founded to serve the Catholic families of Rotorua. John Paul College incorporates strong Catholic values, being named after the late Pope John Paul II. John Paul College has a diverse, multicultural roll. In 2004 its ethnic composition was: NZ European, 62%; Māori 18%; Asian 11%; Pacific Islands 5%; and Other 4%. The college excels in sporting and cultural activities. Academically, the school offers for senior years the National Certificate of Educational Achievement assessment system (NCEA). In 1902, Mother Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross), the founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, went to Rotorua during the last of her four visits to New Zealand. Her doctors had suggested that she might find in the mineral waters some relief from the rheumatic condition that was progressively limiting her activities and causing her considerable distress.