So yesterday, the Ha'iku school held its first May Day program to the delight of several dozen parents and supporters who sat under shady trees in the lush yard. Students performed hula and other dances and exercises, incorporating some of the activities they employ during school to improve their coordination skills.

High school students prepared laulau and other Hawaiian food, middle-schoolers handled the decorations using palm fronds, tropical flowers and other greenery, and elementary school children provided separate artwork for each of the 68 printed programs distributed for the event.

"This is the best program they've ever done for the kids, because it was the kids doing it on their own," said Adrienne Fries of Pukalani, whose 12-year-old daughter has been at Horizons for eight years. "She was so excited. She talked about it for the last week."

Fries said the best thing about Horizons Academy "is the way the kids treat each other." At the family's church and her daughter's hula halau, "they don't understand her."

The school serves students with learning disabilities in grades K to 11, with the 12th grade to be added in the fall. Of the 28 students now enrolled, 11 were referred there from the Department of Education, which pays their tuition. The annual fees range from $12,460 to $13,240.

Irvin said the school, which opened in 1987, fills an educational niche for intelligent pupils who have learning disabilities or behavioral issues that keep them from reaching their potential. Although some students, such as Fries' daughter, are enrolled at Horizons for the long term, many others go back to regular schools once they learn to cope with their difficulties, he said.

"We want to get them in and out as fast as we can and back into the mainstream. Once you give them the strategies to deal with their learning disabilities, they soar," Irvin said.

He cited the case of a former student who came to Horizons in the fourth grade unable to read, but who graduated at the top of the class at a Mainland college. Another bright student who was turned away from an exclusive private school because of his dysgraphia — extreme difficulty in writing letters and words — was able to get the school to reconsider its decision after Horizons provided him with a laptop computer and training that allowed him to type his work, eliminating much of the problem.

Dena Jackson drives 40 miles each way from Kahana to Ha'iku so her 12-year-old daughter can attend Horizons Academy.

In addition to the full curriculum offered by the school, Jackson said she likes the atmosphere. "Nobody makes fun of her. It's like a big family," she said.

Jackson was thrilled with yesterday's May Day program. "It was wonderful. If you could see just how far she's come ... it's really nice," she said.

Irvin said the students studied Hawaiiana before "but never really put it into practice." So "it was a great idea to blend May Day with Hawaiiana, and it's a way to draw the entire school together."

Much of the credit goes to Kameleonalani Cleveland, an educational aide who said she was brought up with the May Day tradition at schools she attended. Cleveland taught the students hula and coordinated the event.

"They've been working so hard in academics that it was time to do something fun," she said.