Classes small, but results mixed

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

LAUPAHOEHOE, Hawai'i — It is a high school with no smoking in the bathrooms and virtually no truants in the past two years. The only exception was a group of seniors who got in trouble last year for skipping out on "senior ditch day."

Laupahoehoe High and Elementary School juniors, from left, Leanna Margheim, Rachel Foster and Miranda Revilla, all 16, examine a model of a tugboat they have been building in their physics class. Kevin Dayton • The Honolulu Advertiser

Laupahoehoe is an anomaly in an era of large schools. By comparison, Hilo High has 1,511 students in four grades, and O'ahu's Farrington High has 2,424, according to Department of Education statistics.

Set on a hillside overlooking the ocean on the Hamakua Coast, about 23 miles north of Hilo, Laupahoehoe's walkways don't quite fill up between classes.

The average class size is 15 students, and Principal James Scanlon virtually knows them all. Last year's graduating class consisted of 18 seniors. Such ratios mean teachers and staff can spot problems early and intervene.

"When you're at high school, it's kind of an important time in your life, and you need a lot of people to help you to make the right choices as you go through," Scanlon said. "It's a very vulnerable time for kids, and when you're kind of anonymous in a large group, it is very easy to fall through the cracks.

"No matter how many systems you put in place, there will always be kids falling through the cracks when there's too many kids for anybody to possibly know," he said.

Scanlon said a number of Hilo parents who had home-schooled their children in the elementary grades make the drive to have their children attend Laupahoehoe, believing the intimate setting is the best way for their children to make the transition to public school.

Yet Scanlon is frank about the struggles to educate and excel at Laupahoehoe, where three out of four students received free or reduced-price lunches in 2001 — a common measure of poverty.

Youngsters from economically advantaged homes tend to boost school test averages, while the students at Laupahoehoe come from a community still struggling to recover from sugar plantation closures.

When it comes to standardized testing, Laupahoehoe is considered a low-performing school, Scanlon said, classified as "planning for restructuring" because it has not been able to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Scanlon believes the law unfairly oversimplifies what schools do, and contends that Laupahoehoe has been relegated to "whipping-boy status" under No Child Left Behind.

"There's a lot more to life than how you do on test scores," Scanlon said. "I think one of the things that our kids get here that kids in other schools don't get is that environment where we can work on their emotional quotient, their ability to resolve conflict, to work together with other people, solve problems in different and unique ways."

The student population hit an all-time low several years ago, but parents and community members lobbied hard to keep the school open — and still do.

When Gov. Linda Lingle visited the school last month, anxious supporters of the school repeatedly pressed her for assurances she would not attempt to close it.

• What are you most proud of? The young men and women of Laupahoehoe School, because they carry forth the family values that have sustained this community through significant disasters, both physical and economic, Scanlon said. They bring forth a positive attitude, a sense of belonging and a willingness to care about others.

• Best-kept secret: Test scores do not define who or what we are. Our families, our community and our actions do.

• Everybody at our school knows: Julie Ann Lawrence, our ambassador. Julie Ann works in our office, coaches our cheerleaders and tends admissions to our athletic events. She is honest, hard-working and considerate of others.

• Our biggest challenge: To endure the onslaught of well-meaning but misguided critics of public education who believe school is about test scores, rewards and sanctions. Herded forth by politicians in Washington, D.C., these critics myopically view our school as "not measuring up," citing test scores as their rationale. The most important things in life are not commensurate with paper-and-pencil testing.

• Special events: A very special event took place in September when Laupahoehoe High and Elementary School dedicated the new band room, which took a 20-year commitment from parents, alumni and community elders to realize. The school recognizes the diligent efforts of Rep. Dwight Takamine to support the North Hilo and Hamakua communities to bring community priorities to fruition. The establishment of a solid music program at Laupahoehoe has been but one example.