Program gives $665,000 to charter schools

Advertiser Staff

Kamehameha Schools' Ho'olako Like program recently awarded nearly $665,000 in financial support to eight public charter schools.

Ho'olako Like offers startup charter schools a chance to collaborate with Kamehameha Schools for financial, technical and resource support. Eligible charter schools can receive $1 from Kamehameha Schools for every $4 of support the Department of Education provides.

Kamehameha Schools also helps with curriculum, professional development and program evaluation.

The eight charter schools serve almost 680 students, most of whom are of Hawaiian ancestry.

In April, Ho'olako Like made its first award of $153,603 to Kanu o ka Aina New Century Public Charter School in Waimea.

Other schools that received grants include:

• Kula Aupuni Ni'ihau a Kahelelani Aloha Public Charter School in Waimea, Kaua'i, $39,762. The Hawaiian-culture-based school is at the Boys and Girls Club of Waimea. All students are of Hawaiian descent.
• Ke Kula Ni'ihau o Kekaha Learning Center Public Charter School in Kekaha, Kaua'i, $34,530. The school is across from Kekaha Elementary School and is a Hawaiian-immersion school. Most of the students are descendants of Ni'ihau families.
• Ke Kula o Samuel Kamakau Laboratory Public Charter School in Kailua, $49,900. Ninety-nine percent of 60 students are of Hawaiian ancestry, and the school focuses on Native Hawaiian health.
• Hakipu'u Learning Center in Kane'ohe, $51,045. The Hawaiian culture-based school is at Windward Community College and focuses on project-based learning.
• Ka 'Umeke Ka'eo Public Charter School, Keaukaha, Hawai'i, $140,000. The school is on the grounds of Keaukaha Elementary in the Keaukaha Hawaiian Home Lands in Hilo and is a Hawaiian-language immersion school.
• Halau Ku Mana New Century Public Charter School, Manoa, $70,187. The Hawaiian culture-based school is at the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
• Halau Lokahi Century Public Charter School, Kalihi, $125,401. The school serves 134 students, 99 percent of whom are of Hawaiian ancestry. The curriculum focuses on self-directed inquiry and research.

Kamehameha Schools is a $6 billion education foundation financed with money from the lands of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Last year, it spent $223 million on education programs and reached 16,000 students of Hawaiian ancestry.