PUHI, Kaua'i — Island School started in 1977 in ramshackle, termite-eaten plantation buildings in Ke'alia, but 28 years later, it finds itself on a sprawling 38-acre campus with aggressive expansion plans.

The private, independent school prides itself on the individual attention given its 300 students from pre-kindergarten though high school. It has a student-teacher ratio of roughly 10 to 1. Administrators also are part-time teachers.

"There's some real value in being in the classroom," said head of school Robert Springer, who came to Island School in 1997 after more than two decades at Kamehameha Schools. "You get to feel the same pressures teachers feel, and you get to know the students better."

Springer said the school has an informal, low-rise, easy feel about it. There are hanging-out areas and outdoor reading spaces for students. All the trees and shrubs on campus are native plants or Polynesian introductions. Kids get off campus to do community service projects as well as their school work. And the school has a specific goal of keeping education relevant and interesting.

"School should be something kids really deep down genuinely enjoy," Springer said.

He said teachers meet weekly to discuss individual students, problems they may be having, and possible solutions.

"We work on a productivity model. In a given period of time, we want to know how much students learn, how fast they learn, how much they retain and how they value what they've learned," Springer said.

Island School's sporting success mainly has been in events that don't require much infrastructure — like soccer and cross country — because the school lacks facilities. But a major capital campaign seeks to raise $6 million for lockers and a full-size gym, as well as a Hawaiian cultural pavilion.

"The importance of physical activity and competitive sports to students hardly can be overstated," says the school's fundraising brochure.