Our Schools • Ka'ala Elementary
Wahiawa teachers find students contented
By Adrienne Ancheta
Advertiser Staff Writer
For some, moving away from Wahiawa means going somewhere more ideal. But for children at Ka'ala Elementary School, moving away means leaving behind something that's already ideal.
Kyle Sackowski • The Honolulu Advertiser
"Children here look forward to coming to school," said science teacher Jan Tamamoto. "They want to come back to school and are happy to."
According to Ka'ala Elementary teachers, the staff cultivates warm interrelationships with students and encourages youngsters to build friendships, as evidenced by interaction between Mark Alegato, of Wahiawa, and Lashwana Laumea, of Kunia, during their reading class.
It's not just the fresh-baked shortbread cookies and rolls that keep them happy, either. The Ka'ala staff has a record of helping students in every aspect of life. Some teachers even invite children into their homes on weekends to bake cookies. Students are equally noteworthy, showing generosity and consideration toward each other every day, teachers say.
The relationship between students and staff has resulted in zero suspensions in the past two years.
"When I was asked to come here, the old principal said it was just a beautiful school," said acting principal Gladys Otsuka.
And when a permanent principal is found in mid-August, Otsuka will tell the replacement the same.
• What are you most proud of? Teachers and staff make an extra effort to nurture students in and out of the classroom, said Leslie Suehisa, a resiliency counselor at Ka'ala for two years.
"Here, there is a serious commitment of the staff to students in all
areas, classroom and home life," she said. "Teachers go out of their way so that the whole child is taken care of."
• Best-kept secret: With a fifth of the students taking a class in English as a second language, the parents and teachers have had to build a strong support system around the children. "Parents face an overwhelming experience that can be negative and challenging," said ESL teacher Kitty Borrello, who has been with Ka'ala for 18 years. "There's resiliency in the teachers who accept children into their classrooms, accommodate their needs and celebrate the fact that they can spice up the melting pot."
Kyle Sackowski • The Honolulu Advertiser
• Everybody at our school knows: It's difficult to pinpoint a single person everyone knows at the school because the staff makes an effort to know each student.
Nora Kaneshige reads "Curious George" to her first-graders. The school uses the Success for All program to improve reading.
"Everyone's very approachable and everyone has a sense of wanting to have interaction with the students," Borrello said.
• Our biggest challenge: Raising the reading scores. The school adopted the Success for All reading program two years ago to meet this challenge. The program separates students into small groups according to ability and age, then assesses progress every eight weeks. Reading instruction is a 90-minute class, but the reading does not end with the last bell. Extended day programs are offered to help tutor students, and each student is required to read 20 minutes a night.
"What's really enlightening is when you see a student go into the difficult reading section (of the library) and say, 'I can read this,' " said librarian Velma Yoshitake.
• What we need: Space. Workrooms, kilns, the library and stage areas have been converted into classroom areas. There are 30 classrooms for 35 teachers at Ka'ala and small-group reading classes have stressed resources further.
• Projects: Ka'ala makes a special effort to promote community involvement. It already partners with the military, which organizes activities for the children, and is working on teaming with the adult community school to start an after-school tutoring program. Despite the school's need for classrooms, the staff wants to build a parent room.
"We want to get the community involved and need a place to welcome them into," said Tamamoto.
• Special events: Ka'ala focuses on parent-child interaction through campus events. A family fun science night is scheduled about twice a month to encourage parents to conduct science experiments at school with their children. The school's parent-teacher group, 'Ohana, helps plan family nights when students and parents can play games and have dinner together at the school.
| At a glance | |
| • | Where: 130 California Ave., Wahiawa |
| • | Phone: 622-6366 |
| • | Web address: www.k12.hi.us/~kaala/kaala_page.html (under construction) |
| • | Principal: Gladys Otsuka, acting principal |
| • | School nickname: Junior Mules |
| • | School colors: Red and blue |
| • | Enrollment: 500 |
| • | SATs: Here's how Ka'ala Elementary students fared on the most recent Stanford Achievement Test. (Listed is the combined percentage of students scoring average and above average, compared with the national combined average of 77 percent.) Third-grade reading, 85 percent; math, 89 percent. Fifth-grade reading, 78 percent; math 79 percent. |
| • | History: Named after the highest mountain on O'ahu, Ka'ala was built on pineapple fields in 1958 for students from kindergarten to seventh grade. When the school opened, the cafeteria was not complete and a classroom was temporarily used for that purpose. Now, with enrollment limited to kindergarten through fifth grade, the opposite is true, with the cafeteria being used as a classroom because of the lack of space. |
| • | Special programs or classes: Kits are available for students to take home and learn more science and reading while involving their parents in their education. |
| • | Computers: Ka'ala has a computer lab and at least two computers in each classroom. |
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To be profiled, contact education editor Dan Woods at 525-5441 or dwoods@honoluluadvertiser.com.
