OUR SCHOOLS • LE JARDIN WINDWARD ACADEMY
Kailua gets independent high school

By Shayna Coleon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Along with celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Le Jardin Windward Academy is looking forward to its inaugural ninth-grade class, which will have 50 students.

Camille Muth, left, and Zoe Gilmour use Le Jardin Windward Academy's saltwater pool during the Summer Fun program. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

All the spots for the ninth-grade class are filled, but with even more construction planned, another 50 freshmen will be accepted annually for the next three school years.

The school accelerated its development plans by 10 years and built four classroom buildings and an auditorium to accommodate the new high school students, who will be using "new everything," Allan said. Money for the expansion came from from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, the Weinberg Foundation and other contributors.

"We have a huge advantage on other schools," Allan said. "I'm the first one to admit it. The (buildings) are new, so everything was set up with new stuff."

That new stuff includes a personal laptop for each Le Jardin high school student that can used there and taken home, and more than $50,000 worth of new equipment for the high school science labs.

The addition of a ninth-grade class is just another change that Le Jardin has gone through over the years. When it first opened in 1961, Le Jardin held classes at St. John Lutheran Church and three other churches in Kailua — a far cry from what it is today.

In 1999, Le Jardin moved to its new Kailua site at the foot of Mount Olomana, overlooking the lush Kawainui Marsh. The school now has 10 buildings, a 25-meter saltwater swimming pool and wireless computer technology that gives students access to the Internet from anywhere on campus.

"We wanted parents to have another option," Allan said. "We serve quality preschool through what's going to be 12th-grade education, available right here on the Windward side."

• What are you most proud of? Being the only independent school in Windward O'ahu that offers classes from preschool to high school.

• Best-kept secret: Instead of electives, Le Jardin's curriculum requires its middle school students to be in the band, and to take drama and art classes.

• Everybody at our school knows: Bev Allen, a Le Jardin music teacher for 31 years.

• Our biggest challenge: According to Allan, Le Jardin is "expanding faster than we can put it up" because there is a huge demand to build more buildings to accommodate more students.

• What we need: An indoor gym, a new library building and a new high school building so the middle school can move into the current high school building.

• Projects? Le Jardin has a program that teaches kindergartners to read, Allan said.

• Special events: Up to 1,000 alumni, parents, students and staff will celebrate Le Jardin's 40th anniversary lu'au on Sept. 14.

To get your school profiled, call education editor Dan Woods at 525-5441 or send e-mail to dwoods@honoluluadvertiser.com.