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Education With Aloha

KUA O KA LA PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

Education With Aloha

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Kua O Ka La Public Charter School

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Education With AlohaProduced by Eric Gunn & Written by Prem DesaiSitting on 600 acres of oceanfront, Kua O Ka Lā Public Charter School in Hawai’i is not your typical charter school. Principal and co-founder, Susie Osborne, describes their ethos as “education with aloha - which means education with caring and respect.” The school clearly embodies this idea as it demonstrates great respect for the environment and Hawaiian culture. The school is completely solar powered, uses composting toilets, and teaches Hawaiian cultural skills such as fishing, net making, and carving, integrated through core academic curricula.

Founded in 2000, the school has 83 students from grades

six through 12 as well as K through first, 18 staff, and a budget of approximately $800,000. The school is currently expanding, adding a grade each year until they service grades K through 12. Kua O Ka Lā is preparing for the expansion of the student body, hoping to have 115 students next year, 130 the year after, and happily expects that the number will continue to grow from there.

Osborne and her partner, Keikialoha Kekipi, established Ho`oulu Lahui Inc., a nonprofit, organization that was the predecessor to Kua O Ka Lā Charter School, in 1995 after the desecration of an ancient burial site. It was through meeting with community kupuna (elders) that Keikialoha learned of his lineal decadency to the people of this wahi pana (sacred place). Osborne and Keikialoha founded a non-profit on the site to provide cultural education programs to serve mental health programs, prisons, public schools, and many other organizations that had a high percentage of native Hawaiians. Osborne’s exposure to the kids who became involved with the non-profits’ work sparked in her the desire to create a school that would provide a unique, hands-on, culturally-driven experience for students.

“I would see the lights come on when they were doing relevant, hands-on projects,” said Osborne. After charter school legislation passed, Osborne knew she wanted to “really deepen our work with the native Hawaiian community.” The pair then decided to use the site owned by Kamehameha Schools for a charter school.

“40 acres of it is one of the most intact, ancient Hawaiian village sites that remain today,” she says. “So it is rich with fish ponds, a very healthy rainforest and all the archaeological features. We began stabilizing the village and running cultural education programs within the different community groups.”

Their Challenges

The definition of highly-qualified teachers is, of course,

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Kua O Ka La Public Charter School

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even harder to meet at such a specialized school. “I’m fortunate that I have a very receptive, open-minded, dedicated, wonderful staff,” says Osborne. “They’re willing to get whatever certifications they need.” To maintain the cultural element in the school’s curriculum, Osborne often pairs teachers with cultural experts and practitioners. Though this is expensive and has led the school to seek alternate funding in the form of grants, it is worth it for Osborne and Kua O Ka Lā students.

Teachers meet every Friday to plan for the coming week, as children do their cultural electives - including hula dancing and ukulele - on that day. “We’re doing a lot of work with professional learning communities; developing those within our school so we’re not always looking for outside help. We’re building more a culture of professional learning within our school environment.”

Kua O Ka Lā also takes a different view on special education, with 25 percent of their students in this category. “We’re fully inclusive with it,” explains Osborne. “If you place a ninth grade special education student in a ninth grade class, nine times out of 10 you’re setting them up for greater frustration and ultimately failure.”

Osborne explains that they place students for English and Math at performance level. She acknowledges this does not necessarily conform to No Child Left Behind but cites an example of an eighth-grade student who was doing trigonometry. “Why hold that child back?”

Assessments do shape the curriculum to an extent but are balanced with Kua O Ka Lā’s cultural focus. “There needs to be multiple measures of success. That’s one measure but that’s not the comprehensive picture,” said

Osborne when asked about standardized testing.

“How can you have a school system founded for research and innovation opportunities - how can you do something so completely unique such as our Hawaiian charter schools - and expect to make drastic turnarounds in one year? Give us some time, give us some flexibility and let us use other measures to determine the success of our children to ensure that upon graduation they are more well-rounded.”

The school does use their own measures for rigorous assessments (NWEA) but must, of course, adhere to the State HSA tests. “Our students that have been with us

for a few years tend to get better with the traditional academic testing but I think it’s a little difficult. As we stabilize our growth over the next few years, that will be easier to handle. It’s definitely a concern and my prayer is that President Obama will listen to the common sense wisdom out there that can guide the spirit and intent of NCLB. My hope is that we’ll see some drastic change

under our new president.”

They work hard to include parents too. “We’re a very values-driven school so Hawaiian values really drive everything,” said Osborne. When the school conducts the entrance interview with families, they sign an agreement that indicates their agreement to the school’s cultural values and dedicates parents to a minimum of 16 hours each year of support to the school. With 80 percent attendance at parent nights, the school is continuously looking to strengthen this program. They are currently planning a fundraising concert with the involvement of many families.

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In the case of student misconduct, parents are also involved with the school to draw up a behavior plan. Though some students have been suspended, no child has ever been expelled. The expectations and values of such a culture-driven school do a lot of the work to keep students in line. “We don’t call the teachers Mr. and Ms.,” she says. “Everyone is uncle and auntie and immediately that makes it a more family-feeling environment.”

The Importance of Community

Focused intensely on infusing Kua O Ka Lā with Hawaiian culture, the school maintains important relationships with numerous community organizations whose support elevated the school to where it is today.

While trying to get the school get off the ground, the Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center offered much-needed aid. During the school’s transition from a non-profit to a charter school, the center helped them draft grants and assisted with other technical and financial support, realizing the two had the same mission: to help Hawaiian children.

Other important relationships for Kua O Ka Lā include the Hawai’i Charter School Administration Office, Kamehameha Schools, Na Lei Na`auao and the Hawai’i Charter School Network. “Community support, engaging local clubs, informing the community; when times get tough, you can call upon your community,” commented Osborne.

Looking Ahead

The future means greater expansion and improvement for Kua O Ka Lā and they’re even in talks with Harvard to become the first research school in Hawai`i to bring multi-discipline researchers and practitioners together to better understand and validate the culturally driven educational methods our native Hawaiian charter schools rely upon.

“One important concept is the bridging of ancient and modern technologies,” says Osborne. “My school is the first school in Hawai`i to be operating on solar power and commercial grade composting toilets; we

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Established : 1997Staff : 18

Students: 83Principal : Susie Osborne

kuaokala.org

COMPANY AT A GLANCE

Teaching our KeikiMai käpae i ke a`o a ka makua, aia he ola ma laila.Do not set aside the teaching of one’s parents for there is life there. - Hawaiian proverb (Pukui, 2065)

At Kamehameha Schools, we strive to prepare students for educational success, while creating opportunities for learners to develop and affirm deep connections to the knowledge, practices and language of their native culture. In this environment, today’s keiki, children, are equipped to become part of a vibrant Hawaiian community tomorrow.

Kamehameha Schools is a private, charitable trust, operating a statewide educational system comprised of three K-12 campuses and 31 preschool sites statewide. Additional services and support are provided through collaboration with charter and public schools, outreach programs and community partnerships.

www.ksbe.edu

Pictured are haumäna, students, working in a lo`i kalo, taro patch.Land-based programs aim to nurture mind, body and spirit by connecting learners to the `äina, land.

won the EPA award for region nine and other multiple awards for environmental issues. [Students] learn how to make ancient torches from the kukui nut but also to operate the solar systems within the school…I want them to be grounded in the culture but very prepared for today’s world - both ancient and modern.”

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Kua O Ka La Public Charter School 14-5322 Kaimu-Kapoho

Pahoa, 96778United States