OUR SCHOOLS • CLEARVIEW CHRISTIAN GIRLS SCHOOL
Maui school makes sure girls also excel in math, science
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
PUKALANI, Maui — From the street, the house looks no different from most of the other residences in the quiet Upcountry Maui neighborhood. Only the long row of backpacks hanging outside the entrance hint at the beehive of activity taking place inside Clearview Christian Girls School.
Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser
Go inside and you'll see two girls tinkering with the motors on a robot they assembled, while in another room several students experiment with plasma gas. In the computer lab, two other girls work on writing projects.
Clearview Christian Girls School students, from left, Kami Kayama, Erica Chick and Erica Davidge experiment with plasma gas during a science session.
Clearview, started nine years ago for middle-school-age girls, follows the Montessori approach to interdisciplinary learning that mixes age groups and often relies on hands-on experiences. Although there are lecture-based classes, students also are given time for self-directed activities.
Principal Vicki Draeger founded the small nondenominational school on the belief that girls, especially during the middle school years, are shortchanged in the areas of math and science instruction, and that there are fewer distractions, less social pressure and more learning in a single-gender environment.
Such a setting encourages the girls to speak their mind and be more engaged in class, said teacher Michelle Price, who has taught at coed schools in Hawai'i and Arizona. "I've noticed how much more the girls are able to conduct a conversation and formulate meaningful questions. They do not hold back. Their ideas are more challenging and their behavior is more challenging, in a positive way," Price said.
• Where: 71 Ha'a Ha'a St., Pukalani, Maui • Phone: (808) 876-0123 • Principal: Vicki Draeger, founder and principal for nine years • Web address: www.maui.net/~clearvu/ • Enrollment: 17 students in grades 6-9; maximum enrollment is 32. • Computers: Seven computers, with three more soon to be purchased.
The curriculum includes math, science, language arts, social studies and subjects such as sewing, cooking, photography and American Sign Language. There are two full-time teachers, and part-timers and guest instructors who teach physical education and other classes. For example, a University of Hawai'i botanist is helping the girls design and plant their own garden.
At a glance
The goal, Price said, is to produce a capable, well-rounded student.
"We want them to be as good in computers and technology as they are in sewing and cooking in the kitchen."
Clearview has only 17 students this year, but usually averages about 25, Draeger said.
Several of the students said they like the close-knit atmosphere. "When it's this small you get more personal attention," said Jaidree Braddix, 12, one of the robot builders. "It's more comfortable."
The school is planning an ambitious program next year, called the Clearview Farm and Fiberworks Project. Students will spend 2 1/2 hours a week at a nine-acre farm in lower Kula working with a teacher, a naturalist, a flower farmer and spinners and weavers. They will care for alpacas, sheep, llamas and angora rabbits, whose fur can be used to produce yarn, and grow natural plant fibers and ornamental flowers.
The girls will get instruction in how to do spreadsheets and accounting, develop a marketing plan, create promotional material, and, essentially, learn the ABCs of running a small cottage industry. They also will share their experience with students from area schools.
• What are you most proud of? "The fact that our girls are so well-rounded. They have won national poetry contests, and the school received the Arts Excellence Award from the Hawai'i Alliance for Art Education, but they also are excelling in math, science and technology, areas in which girls traditionally lag behind," said Principal Vicki Draeger.
• Best-kept secret: The school has $35,000 in donated money to provide academic scholarships for sixth-grade girls.
• Our biggest challenge: "An important part of what we do at Clearview involves creating a sense of responsibility," Draeger said. "We are a very small school, and we are are very home-like and nurturing with our students. However, at the end of the day, they have cleaning chores. Getting them done completely, thoroughly and cheerfully is often a challenge."
• What we need: "In today's high-tech society, no school can have too many computers. We just received a donation of $1,500 for computers, but we could use more. We could also use a few more sewing machines."
• Special programs: "Baby Think It Over" for older students, which uses lifelike dolls and other teaching tools so girls can experience the social, financial and emotional responsibilities of caring for an infant; numerous field trips; optional enrichment trip — last year a group went to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico to learn about the American West.
Reach Christie Wilson at (808) 244-4880, or e-mail at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.
