OUR SCHOOLS • EPIPHANY SCHOOL
Kaimuki private school moving to Mid-Pac

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

It's a bittersweet time for Epiphany School as students and staff prepare to leave behind the brightly colored cottages and little red schoolhouse for a modern, new home on the Manoa campus of Mid-Pacific Institute.

At Epiphany School, kindergartners start out in the building known as the little red schoolhouse. Limited space on campus has led the school to enter a partnership with Mid-Pacific Institute. The transfer from Kaimuki to Manoa is expected to be completed in July 2005. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

By July 2005, the entire school, teachers, administrators and students will be moved to the Mid-Pacific campus.

The partnership was not something Epiphany was seeking, but it was necessary, said Edna Hussey, head of school.

"We're limited in space here and limited in our financial resources," said Hussey. "With Mid-Pacific Institute, we'll become one school and that offers us a future.The name won't exist, but the programs will continue."

Mid-Pac, presently a sixth- through 12th-grade school, will adopt the Epiphany learning method called Children First in the new Mid-Pacific Institute Elementary School. The Epiphany program is a progressive, child-centered curriculum that has been with the school since it began, Hussey said.

The partnership will benefit Epiphany's students, said Hussey.

Epiphany has only a small patch of grass for the children to play on. Swimming must be done at a nearby district park pool and physical education is done off campus.

But starting next year when Epiphany's sixth-graders move to the Mid-Pac campus, students will have access to a pool, tennis courts, a drama department and other amenities not available to them now, said Hussey.

The change will be inspiring, Hussey said. Teachers, even those who have been at Epiphany's Kaimuki location for years, are looking forward to the partnership with anticipation and excitement, she said.

Still, "there is a sense of loss," Hussey said. "Many of us are very thoughtful of what the move will mean. But we will take with us our philosophy on education. It can be done."

• What are you most proud of? The faculty "because of their careful and thoughtful attention to children."

• Best-kept secret: The uniqueness of the faculty and staff and their strong connections with the community. One faculty member worked with Mother Teresa. One has helped to set state standards for early childhood education. One is a member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and a crew member of the Hokule'a. Three have participated in marathons and triathlons. One was invited to Johannesburg, South Africa, to participate in an art institute.

• Everyone at our school knows: The Rev. Burton Linscott, the principal and missionary parish priest of Epiphany from 1950 to 1978. The 91-year-old Linscott still tutors children. "He comes to school nearly every day dressed in his fashionable long-sleeved aloha shirt and sporting his signature straw hat," said Hussey. "Every afternoon he drives into the parking lot, the students call out his name, 'Father Linscott!' "

• Our biggest challenge: "To ensure a smooth transition between the two schools."

• What we need: Much of what we'll need is the "willingness to keep an open mind during our transition," Hussey said

• Special projects and events: Each year, the school trains students in Grades 3 through 6 in peer mediation. The students participate in nine training sessions. Afterward, they are on call to mediate any student problems. The purpose is to create an awareness of the source of problems and to find ways to solve them, Hussey said.

Each March, the school celebrates Grandparents Day.

On Oct. 26 this year, the school will recognize Children First Day, a day of crafts, juggling, yoga and arts.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.