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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 11, 2004

OUR SCHOOLS • KAHALA ELEMENTARY
Good reputation draws many outsiders

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

KAHALA — The first thing you notice about the kids at Kahala Elementary School is that they're all carrying storybooks at lunch and recess.

Kahala Elementary School fourth-graders work on a science project. Clockwise from top center: Hannah Kim, Kainoa Buntin, Nalu O'Connor, Max Wellein and Karen Yoshii. Next year, in fifth grade, they'll have the opportunity to stage a choral production for the school and community.

Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The second thing you notice is that the students are really reading their books.

It's all part of an accelerated reading program that encourages every student to read. In the school's library, students' names are posted to honor their reading achievements. Students earn points and are recognized each quarter for the number of books they read and for passing a comprehension test, said Steven Hirahara, Kahala Elementary principal.

At the corner of Kilauea and Pahoa avenues, the school is easy to get to and halfway between town and Hawai'i Kai. With its location, strong academics and active parent-teacher organization, it has developed a reputation as a good school.

Nearly half the students live outside the district and attend the Kahala school under the Department of Education's geographic exception policy, which allows them to apply to attend a school outside the area where they live.

"The students all grow up together," Hirahara said. "We try to accept geographic exceptions right at the beginning so the students can start together. That's the strength of the school — the students who grow up together. This way, we have seven years with the students and their parents."

The school recently underwent more than $1 million in state upgrades. Aging chalkboards were replaced with white boards, new lights and window louvers were installed, and exterior and interior walls received new coats of paint.

The school offers several programs that others don't have or cannot afford, Hirahara said. The schools parent-teacher organization pays for part-time teachers for music, physical education and computer technology classes. The school also has a full-time science teacher as well as a teacher for the Gifted and Talented program.

• Best-kept secret: "Our fifth-grade program that features music, dancing and drama," Hirahara said. The class produces plays annually for the school, parents and the community. "Although the school and its community knows of this well-kept secret, very few outsiders have ever seen or heard of them," he said.

• Everyone at our school knows: Custodians Galen Okumura, Riley Chun and Aurelio Bungcayao. "They're all well-known on campus. They're very cheerful and they volunteer their time at community events. They help teachers, parents and the students. They play an active role in our school."

• Our biggest challenge: "To maintain and improve our scores on the standardized tests," Hirahara said. "Our scores are quite good but you can't be satisfied, so we have to keep upping the bar."

• What we need: Electrical upgrades. "We're a 50-year-old school and our wires are the same age. We need to upgrade."

• Special projects and events: Annual food drive; Toys for Tots; Clean Your Closets, which benefits students at Kalihi Elementary School; campus beautification every April, Rainbow Week; May Day; and the Office Club, Peer Tutors, Library Service Club, JPO and sixth-grade band. In February the school holds Staff Appreciation Day, with each class picking a staff member or teacher to honor.

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

• • •

Kahala Eagles

• Where: 4559 Kilauea Ave.

• Phone: 733-8455.

• Principal: Steven Hirahara, for two years.

• Web address: www.kahala.k12.hi.us/home.nsf

• School nickname: Kahala Eagles

• School colors: Red and white

• Enrollment: 500, at capacity.

• Testing: Here's how Kahala Elementary students fared on the most recent standardized tests.

• Stanford Achievement Test. Listed is the combined percentage of students scoring average and above average, compared with the national combined average of 77 percent: Third-grade reading, 95.9 percent; math, 98.7 percent. Fifth-grade reading, 96.9 percent; math, 96.9 percent.

• Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards tests. Listed are the combined percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards and a comparison with the state average: Third-grade reading, 69.3 percent, compared with state average of 41.9 percent; math, 56.4 percent, compared with 24.1 percent. Fifth-grade reading, 78.1 percent, compared with 40.8 percent; math, 68.8 percent, compared with 19.6 percent.

• History: Kahala School opened in 1954 with 136 students in kindergarten to Grade 4. Today the campus serves students in Grades K-6 and has 11 separated buildings connected by covered walkways.

• Special programs or classes: A full-time science teacher and Gifted and Talented program, and part-time teachers for music, computer and physical education. The school also has a grant that pays for a piano teacher. There is a program for the hearing-impaired — one of only two in the Honolulu District.

Each year the fifth-grade chorus performs for the school and for patients at Le'ahi Hospital. This year the performance is "HMS Pinafore," next Thursday and March 19 on campus.

Gardens near the classrooms are planted and maintained by the Student Garden Club.

• Computers: About 50 schoolwide, including two or three in each classroom, 30 in the lab and a dozen in the library.