OUR SCHOOLS • VARIETY SCHOOL OF HAWAI'I
Intimate attention helps dispel learning disabilities

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer

Variety School of Hawai'i is a small facility on the slopes of Diamond Head that has been dedicated to helping students with learning disabilities since 1961.

Occupational therapist Aileen Yamada supervises exercises by Variety School student Sam Mahoney, who tosses a bag into a barrel while riding a swing. The staff of the private school on the slopes of Diamond Head also includes specialists in learning disabilities, language pathology and physical education. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

The 73,000-square-foot facility serves students ages 5 through 13. It doesn't have grade levels, but groups students by their level of development and ability.

Students with learning disabilities have difficulty reading, writing or communicating due to neurologically based disorders that affect their ability to process and retain information. Children with attention deficit disorders are unable to focus attention long enough to learn well.

Classes at Variety School are limited to 12 students each and are taught by a learning disability specialist and teaching assistant, with support from a language pathologist, occupational therapist and physical education specialist.

School director Duane Yee, who oversees a entire staff of around 20 people, sees advantages in being small.

"One of the luxuries of teaching in an institution like this is that we can give children time to learn," he said. "I was at Punahou for 41 years before coming here. What I tell my colleagues when I see them is that I see miracles here every week. We're in the miracle business."

Norman Morikuni is one who believes in those miracles. He says that when Casey, his 6-year-old grandson, enrolled at Variety School a year and a half ago, the boy was unable to hold a pencil and spoke only a gibberish language of his own invention.

These days Casey appears to be a normal, talkative boy who is all smiles.

"His improvement has been remarkable," said Morikuni. "In the beginning he was very frustrated because he was unable to communicate. Now, he's a mild-mannered, lovable child who wants to learn.

"He's still got to catch up because he was so far behind, but the goal is to return him to public school when he is ready."

Yee's administrative philosophy for achieving such a goal is simplicity itself.

"I believe an administrator exists to make it easy and effective for teachers to teach kids," he said. "That's it. That's the primary thing."

• What are you most proud of? The working relationship between kids, teachers and staff. "The cliche would be that it's like a family, but it's true," said Yee. "This is an extraordinary facility because it's so small and intimate that you can get things done."

• Best-kept secret: "The school itself. People say, 'What is Variety School?' There was a time — back when it was called Variety Club School — when I didn't know anything about Variety School. I thought, along with many others, I suspect, 'Oh, this is a school is for show business students, a performing arts school.'"

• Everybody at our school knows: "Everybody else here. We are a tiny school. Our enrollment tops out at 50. That's what we aim for. Our student-to-teacher ratio is less than 4-to-1. Our secret weapon is intimacy — really getting to know the kids and really knowing how they learn."

• Biggest challenge: "It's always money. This school has had some tough times financially. But now we're in the black. In order to stay in the black, we have to raise about half a million dollars a year.

"It's always tough to stay afloat. We only have one endowment — $1 million for financial aid. And every tuition-paying parent gets financial aid. That's the only endowment we have."

• What we need: Yee said the school playground was in poor shape when he arrived. Although it has been improved since, it needs additional equipment as well as a retaining wall between the playground and an adjacent drainage ditch — both for the safety of the children as well as to prevent the land from eroding.

• Special activities: The school offers swimming, hula, karate and adaptive physical education classes. In addition to its structured academic program, the school has in recent years begun offering an alternative class for up to 10 high-functioning autistic children served by a teacher and two assistants.