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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, September 23, 2004

Our Schools • Hawai'i Baptist Academy

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

At Hawai'i Baptist Academy in Nu'uanu, the next year will be marked by construction of a $10.2 million middle-school campus that boasts energy-efficient "green" technology.

Hawai'i Baptist Academy is a private school, with its intermediate-high school campus on Pali Highway. The elementary school is about a half-mile away; a middle school is being built, also in Nu'uanu.

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

The environmentally friendly building will use solar power, water catchment systems for irrigation and CFC-free refrigeration and air conditioning.

This is a way to be "good stewards of our natural resources and of our financial resources," said HBA president Richard Bento, noting that the measures could save up to 45 percent in energy costs and 20 percent in water costs. Groundbreaking will take place tomorrow at 10 a.m.

The new middle school will accommodate 230 students in 11 classrooms, two science classrooms, a computer lab and a multipurpose room, further expanding a K-12 school that covers two nearby campuses in Nu'uanu.

What are you most proud of? "We have been able to fulfill our founders' vision to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with young people and their families through a school known for academic excellence," said Matt Sanders, director of institutional enhancement.

Best-kept secret: The Mainland Advisory Council, which has supported the school since 1977. "Most have no direct connection with the school other than that they share our vision for Christian education," Sanders said. "Our school would not be where it is today without these special friends."

Everybody at our school knows: Ruby Ovitt, principal of the elementary campus; B.J. Medeiros, security guard at the intermediate-high school, and HBA president Bento.

Our biggest challenge: "To keep seeing HBA as one school although we are on two different campuses," Sanders said.

What we need: "We are building a middle-school campus to give these students specially designed facilities to meet the learning style of the young adolescent," Sanders said.

Special events: Spring Homecoming in January, Mainland Advisory Council Week in February, Christian Emphasis Week in March for intermediate-high school, Parent-Teacher Fellowship Fun Fair in April and Alumni Ho'olaule'a Week in July

To get your school profiled, reach education editor Dan Woods at 525-5441 or dwoods@honoluluadvertiser.com.

• • •

Founded in 1949 by McCormicks

Location: Elementary school, 21 Bates St., Honolulu, HI 96817; Intermediate-high school, 2429 Pali Highway, Honolulu, HI 96817

Telephone: Elementary school, 524-5477; Intermediate-high school, 595-6301

Principal: Elementary, Dr. Ruby Ovitt, since 1971; Intermediate-High school, Marsha Hirae, since 1997

School nickname: Eagles

School colors: Gold, black, white

Web address: www.hba.net

History: Founded in 1949 by Baptist missionaries H.P. and Mary McCormick, HBA was originally located in Makiki. First enrolling Grades 7 and 8, by 1953 the school accepted students in Grades 1 through 12. The first class graduated in 1954. In 1975, the high school moved to its current site in Nu'uanu; in 1987, the elementary school moved to a site about a half-mile away.

Enrollment: 1,031 (maximum)

Computers: About 280 located in a computer lab, two computer classes, library, classrooms, and offices.