Learning center planned on Maui

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

KAPALUA, Maui — Maui Land & Pineapple Co. Inc. yesterday announced plans for an educational center that ultimately will house pre-kindergarten through college-level programs with an emphasis on agriculture.

The center is planned as a collaboration with Lahainaluna High School, a new independent school named Maui Preparatory Academy, and the previously announced Earth University/University of Hawai'i program focusing on agricultural sustainability and entrepreneurship, officials said.

At the company's Honolua dormitory site, the center will be owned and managed by Maui Preparatory Academy, which has been in the planning stages for three years. A coalition of West Maui citizens and educators has been looking for a suitable site for the school during that time.

"ML&P is proud to partner with MPA to offer West Maui a unique opportunity to have an agricultural learning and field research center coupled with a college preparatory curriculum," David Cole, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Although it takes healthy soil, clean water and sunlight to grow crops, we can't create lasting value in our community without a commitment to continuous learning and improvement."

Tom DiNoto, president of the academy's board of directors, said the group is aiming for a September 2005 opening, although Maui Pine and Lahainaluna will initiate an agricultural internship program this summer.

The site, officials noted, has several spacious buildings and is beyond the traffic-congested Lahainaluna corridor, where all of West Maui's public schools are located.

The Maui County Council this morning is scheduled to hear a resolution introduced by West Maui Council Member JoAnne Johnson granting Maui Preparatory Academy a change in zoning, a community plan amendment and a district boundary amendment.