OUR SCHOOLS • KAPOLEI HIGH
New school doesn't have a history, so it's making one

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

Kapolei High School, the only high school in the fastest-growing community in Hawai'i, opened in the summer of 2000 with 375 students — all freshmen.

Kapolei High senior John Dela Rama, seated in front of the monitor, edits video of the a Kapolei Hurricanes game in the graphics arts class of teacher Daryl Madela.

Kapolei High School opened in 2000 with 375 students and now has an enrollment of more than 1,900, officials report. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Nagasako is the first to admit the school hasn't been around long enough to have a history. The current crop of seniors will be the school's first graduating class.

But he is also aware that the school is fast creating a tradition. The varsity football team, the Hurricanes, are unbeaten and could win the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Conference championship outright tomorrow night with a victory over the Radford Rams.

Not bad for a second-year program with no alumni.

Nagasako sees this unique situation as an opportunity to create lasting bonds between the school, parents and local business leaders in ways that are distinctly advantageous to students.

At the same time, Nagasako has plenty to worry about. For one thing, he shares the concerns of others about the incredible pace of development in the decade-old community of Kapolei, built on former Campbell Estate sugar cane fields on the 'Ewa Plain.

"We're designed for multi-track," principal Al Nagasako said. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We're designed for multi-track," he said. "It's like two-thirds of your students are in school all the time, and one third is out. So it's like running three separate schools. At any given time, one third of your teachers are out."

When that happens, the level of education suffers, he believes.

Nagasako sees a multi-track schedule as a last resort at Kapolei, and would like to keep the current schedule in place as long as possible.

• What are you the most proud of? "We are the gathering place in Kapolei," said Nagasako. "We have promoted the school as being the hub of the community. As such, we offer our facilities up to all kinds of groups. We have five career academies, and we've reached out to community members involved in those business partnerships as mentors to student interns.

"We're fortunate. These people are coming out. They're calling me a lot of the time."

• Best-kept secret: "We are the only school in the state — and we're venturing to say the nation — that hosts a Rotary Club meeting once a week. Right here at the school. The Rotary Club members themselves are very proud of that.

"Every Thursday morning at 7:30, we provide breakfast for them. We drink coffee, we talk story. The club is involved in a lot of the school activities."

• Everybody at our school knows: Darren Hernandez, the school's 6-foot, 290-pound football coach who sports a shaved head and coal-black beard. Easily the most visible figure at the school, Hernandez, whose varsity team hasn't lost a game this year, frequently has been seen in the sports pages.

• Biggest challenge: Nagasako says that although the school enjoys an exceptional relationship with the community, it is at a loss to find a way to better connect with the parents of many students.

"A major challenge is increasing parent participation in school and finding better ways to communicate with parents," he said. "We do a lot of parent stuff. But still, we haven't found a way to get parents really involved in student activities."

• What we need: "There's always a need for more business and community partnerships. We need more after-school programs — whether it's athletics, clubs or a dance or art programs. Something for every kid.

"And, we're critically short of room. We still waiting for the football stadium. We don't even have a practice field. We practice on the baseball diamond. We use rubbish bins as goal posts."

• Projects: The school's big project, Nagasako said, is a capital campaign to raise up to $6 million for the Malama Learning Center, which will be build in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, a national organization dedicated to protecting plants and animals in their natural settings. The center will incorporate the arts, science, culture and the environment.

"The Nature Conservancy on O'ahu will be housed here," said Nagasako. "So, as they do their study and research in the hills, our kids will be involved. That's what we're all about — project-based learning."

• Special events: The school is actively involved in "Sunset on the Plains," as well as the annual Taste of Kapolei event sponsored by the Rotary.

"And we have craft fairs," Nagasako said. "We've got a two-day craft fair that will be held on our campus on Nov. 22 and 23."