Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 7, 1 July 2015 — Education with ALOHA! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Education with ALOHA!

Ilana ina iui honuanua... Hana no'eau a i 'ole ina nā honuanua! ouching on Charter

I ichoois īn this month s I article, I want to share I with you the proud I graduates of Ke Kula 'o SamuelM. Kamakau LPCS (Laboratory Puhlie Charter School) in Ha'ikū ... all three of them! It was an honor and a privilege to witness this unique graduation ceremony of one of our highestperforming charter schools at their beautiful, tranquil and amazingly picturesque new campus

in Ha'ikū, O'ahu. This charter school rated in the top 5 percent of Charter Schools with an 81 percent Reading score! Student ethnicities: Native Hawaiian, 97 percent; White, 2 percent; Asian, 1 percent. The student-to-teacher ratio at this Labora-

tory Puhlie Charter School is 6: 1. Fifty-one percent of the 135 students have subsidized lunches. Graduates Kau'iaukea McElroy, Kau'i Goodhue and Malanai Kane Kuahiwinui ean be seen in the photos helow. (Mahalo to Leilani Roberts for the info.) Education with Aloha, simply known as EA, is an innovative, culturally driven edueahonal approach to provide and address the needs of Hawai'i's largest, most undereducated ethnic population, according to NLN (Nā Lei Na'auao) Program Coordinator Ka'iulani Pahi'o. She adds, "Our schools' successes validate capacity to design and control the process of education dedicated

to perpetuating Hawai'i's language, culture and traditions." OHA's emergency funding grant of $1.5M addressed the budget shortfalls at our Hawaiian-fo-

cused puhiie charter schoois for the 2014-2015 school year. While in Washington, D.C., for the birthday lei-draping of our beloved King Kamehameha statue in Emancipation Hall, I met with the new Assistant Secretary of Policy and Programs at the U.S. Dept. of Education, our own Mr. Ronn Nozoe hails from Hawai'i. He shared some important grant news for High-Quality Charter Schools and grants to

Non-State Educational Agencies for Planning, Program Design and Implementation. The U.S. Dept. of Education plans to give out $40M for this competition with 25 awards. This program allows individual charter schools to apply directly for

start-up funds. (See http://www2.ed.gov/ programs/charternonsea/index.html.) Over 67 percent of charter schools met the SAT honor roll criteria, and there has been 160 percent growth in student population since the start of the charter schools in Hawai'i in 2001. With the help of public/private partnerships, Education with Aloha will be able to continue to provide students with a parallel system of education that is truly Culturally driven, Family oriented and Community based! A hui hou, Mālama Pono, Mahalo Ke Akua for EA! ■

Leina'ala Ahu lsa, Ph.D. Trustee, At-large

A highlight of the ceremony was the presentation and tying of kīhei on the three graduating seniors of Ke Kula 'o Samuel M. Kamakau LPCS. At right, clockwise from top left, Trustee Lei Ahu lsa poses with phneipal Kameha'ililani Waiau and graduates McElroy, Kau'i Goodhue and Malanai Kāne Kuahiwinui. - Courtesy: Tiustee Ahu lsa