The former Auckland Warriors rugby league player and Kings High School enhancement teacher is leaving to take up a new position with the Corrections Department, teaching young offenders at a residential unit in Christchurch.
Mr Tagaloa believed his expertise in providing literacy and numeracy support to pupils with learning difficulties won him the job.
His wife, Catherine, a teacher aide at Kings for the past two and a-half years, will join him in Christchurch and hopes to teach Maori four hours a week at the facility.
For Mr Tagaloa, it would be just another classroom.
But there would be obvious differences, he said.
It was a prison for 13 to 16 year-old boys.
Every door in the facility was locked and he would be in constant communication with other staff using portable radios.
"It will be a challenge. Because [the boys] are locked up, they are very vulnerable and it will be easier to reach out to them.
"But they do have issues and it will be difficult to deal with them on a day-to-day basis."
While Mr and Mrs Tagaloa were looking forward to the "new chapter" in their life, they were sad to be leaving Kings High School.
There were many highlights during their time at the school.
They established the school's Pacific Island Culture Group and had enjoyed watching boys express themselves through Pacific Island dance and culture during the past three years.
"They're like family to us. Our house is always full of Kings boys. Life never stops at the end of the school day. We'll miss them."
However, Mrs Tagaloa said their connection to Dunedin would not be severed.
They are co-ordinators for the Out There Pursuits Trust, which took children with special needs on camping trips, and planned to return each year to continue that activity.
They also hoped eventually to open their own private school for high-achieving boys in Dunedin, she said.
