Posted on: Tuesday, July 31, 2001

Wai'anae preschool expansion praised

By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau

WAI'ANAE — Nicole Souza, a mother of three, has seen the benefits of sending her children to a preschool.

"It makes a difference in their cultural education and motor skills," said Souza. "We are immersed in pidgin out here, so it really helps with their language skills."

Souza, a Nanakuli Homestead resident and Kamehameha School graduate, and about 60 other people attended the opening of Kamehameha Schools' expanded preschool in Wai'anae yesterday. Souza plans to enroll her youngest son there next year.

Kamehameha Schools has spent $191,500 renovating two buildings and a garage at the former Hawai'i Baptist Academy grounds on Ala Hema Street into classrooms and is adding four classes with 68 students to its existing program at the site.

Classes will begin in September for 48 3-year-olds and 40 4-year-olds.

Kamehameha Schools has had a preschool program on the Wai'anae coast since 1980 and already has four locations and 220 students, but this is the first time 3-year-old students will be accepted into the program.

Barbara Ariyoshi, Kamehameha Schools' regional manager for its preschool division, said two years of preschool will give a bigger boost to the children.

"When they get to kindergarten they will be prepared to learn," Ariyoshi said. "We expect big improvements in student performance and we are happy to see them given a good start here in Wai'anae."

Kamehameha Schools has been operating a preschool at the Hawai'i Baptist Church site since 1995. When the Baptist academy closed three years ago, the preschool saw an opportunity to expand and negotiated a five-year lease, Ariyoshi said.

Kamehameha Schools trustee Diane Plotts said the expansion is part of the trust's strategic goal to reach more Hawaiian children.

"In Wai'anae today we are taking a small step toward fulfilling that need," Plotts said.

Students at the preschool must be Hawaiian. Annual tuition is $612, and Kamehameha offers financial scholarships, Ariyoshi said.