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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, December 6, 2007

Eager students facing tough challenges

Compiled by Suzanne Roig

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Kea'au Elementary students use a large cube during an activity. Principal Ron Furukawa says "the willingness and enthusiasm of students to want to learn" is one of the things he's proudest of.

Sally DeRyke

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Where: 16-680 Kea'au-Pahoa Road, Kea'au; Ka'u/Kea'au/Pahoa complex on Big Island.

Grade span: Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade

Enrollment: 760 students, at 96 percent capacity.

Race/ethnicity: Part-Hawaiian, 34 percent; Filipino, 27 percent; Hawaiian, 8 percent; white, 8 percent; other, 23 percent.

Free and reduced-price lunch eligible: 63 percent.

Special education students: 16 percent

Computers: Two computer labs with 30 computers each. Also, in each of Kea'au Elementary's 34 classrooms there is one computer for the teacher and four computers for students.

Principal: Ron Furukawa, two years at Kea'au Elementary.

School nickname: Nene

School colors: Forest green and white.

What are you most proud of? "The willingness and enthusiasm of students to want to learn, and the dedication of the teachers and staff to improve student achievement," Furukawa said.

What is your biggest challenge? "Meeting the annual proficiency expectations, given the diversity of the Kea'au Elementary student population," Furukawa said.

Special events: This month's Kea'au Elementary Chorus Winter Concert, Kea'au Elementary Performing Arts Ensemble spring performance, and Spring Celebration in May. Also, service activities such as Jump Rope for Heart, Click-It or Ticket, school mediators, office and library monitors and lunch room monitors.

History: The school opened at its current site in 1999. Previously, it was combined with Kea'au Middle School as a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school.

Testing: Here's how Kea'au Elementary students fared on the most recently released standardized tests:

  • 2006 Stanford Achievement Test — Listed is the combined percentage of pupils scoring average and above average, compared with the national combined average of 77 percent. Third-grade reading, 85 percent; math, 89 percent. Fourth-grade reading, 69 percent; math, 85 percent. Fifth-grade reading, 62 percent; math, 66 percent.

  • 2006 Hawai'i State Assessment test — Listed is the combined percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards. Third-grade reading, 49 percent (state average: 50.2 percent); math, 28 percent (state average: 30 percent). Fourth-grade reading, 46 percent, (58.1 percent); math, 27 percent, (32.5 percent). Fifth-grade reading, 20 percent, (43.5 percent); math, 10 percent, (24 percent).

    Web address: www.keaau.k12.hi.us

    Phone: 808-982-4210

    Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.