Testimonials

We work hard so every girl at Huakailani can reach their greatest potential, but don’t just take our word for it.

“HSFG was an amazing foundation for grades K-2, we cherish those years!”  – Trask Ohana

“She is guided each step of her way by the lifelong lessons and character-building experiences she had at Huakailani! Huakailani shaped her curiosity and desire for reading, problem-solving, and she advanced rapidly in her math skills. Her appreciation for nature, life science and art grew! We are truly honored to be a HUAKAILANI alumna! We are grateful for the amazing work you do with each student! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE! Good luck to HUAKAILANI!”

                                                                                                                                   -From Drs. Eleonora and Marian Kolarsky  Our daughter has attended Huakailani from K through 2nd grade. Originally we only intended to have her there for K because she was very, very shy with speech delays, and we knew she needed more attention than she would get in public schools. She made such huge strides in every aspect of her education, confidence and strength of character almost immediately, we decided it is definitely worth it to keep her at Huakailani for as long as we could afford to. The teachers are really amazing with the girls, her education is very individualized to her, she loves going to school everyday and regular online and in person updates let us know how to support our daughter’s growth as well as our family needs. Huakailani constantly amazes us with very creative projects, field trips and opportunities to learn. I love the degree of parent support and the wonderful rapport that both students and parents have with the staff. The school even makes interpersonal relationships an important focus, they often help the girls to effectively resolve any disagreements in a respectful manner. I would absolutely recommend this school to anyone. It has been an amazing experience for our family.

– S. Trask

 

We have 2 daughters that attended Huakailani School.I currently homeschool since we are a military family on the move. I must say that their time at Huakailani proved to be an invaluable educational experience. My youngest (who started there in K) is supposed to be in 2nd gr., but she works at almost a fourth grade level in math, and she works at a 3rd grade level in all areas of language arts. My oldest (who started at the school in 3rd grade) works easily at grade level in math, and excels at language arts as well; especially writing. Both girls reminisce on the cool experiments they got to do and neat ways they learned specific concepts.My oldest learned valuable computer technology skills that i’m sure she would not have been exposed to at other schools (she especially loved working on a community service project in which she learned claymation!).Focus on the community was a big draw for us.The school strives to have students be stewards of their community.They experienced an environment in which they learned according to their strengths, and the director and staff are open to changing things that may not be working for a particular student. Great school for esteem building!

– A.Morrow

 

When my first grade daughter says to me “Mom, what’s more important? Going on an airplane to see friends on the mainland, or learning advanced Japanese” after telling her she would be missing school last fall, it is fair to say that she LOVES school. She is thriving on every level, both academically and socially, and amazes me constantly. The teachers and staff at Huakailani are phenomenal, and are a part of our extended Ohana. They daily provide my daughter the attention, discipline, and hugs that inspire her to excel in her academic and personal journey.

– H. Darby

Huakailani is an excellent school!!! The individual curriculum that they provide for each girl in invaluable. Our daughter was technically kindergarden last year, but all of her areas of studies were first grade. This allowed her to continuously be challenged at a level that was appropriate for her. Unfortunately, we moved this summer because we are a military family and we miss Huakailani very much! We would recommend this school to anyone. The tuition is high, but is still cheaper than other schools on the island especially for the small size and individual attention that each girl receives. The school uses the latest technology which keeps the girls in touch with the changing world. The curriculum is also well-rounded which gives the girls the opportunity to learn about many different subjects other than the traditional ones. We would definitely encourage parents who are looking into a private school for their daughter to take a serious look at Huakailani.

– C. Wood

 

At the time of writing this we are only 6 weeks into the school year and I feel my daughter is turning a corner in her reading and handwriting, two areas she has struggled with. Her confidence has improved greatly. She never complains about going to school as she has in the past. She is excited to learn and thinks that going to an all-girls school is pretty cool. We are happy to be part of the Huakailani Ohana.

– S. Ronscka

My daughter was enrolled in a class of 22 in a local public elementary school. She is the “perfect” student as she is quiet, passive and very cooperative, a teacher’s dream. However, in reality she was overwhelmed by the amount of activity in the class, tended to withdraw because of the sensory overload, never raised her hand in class or participated with group activities, and speaking up only when prodded to do so. Slowly she started falling behind and making limited progress. The after school program offered was merely a 20:1 babysitting ratio and she would never get her homework done due to the lack of assistance from the staff. The general atmosphere of the larger public school classroom was not conducive to her learning style at all. We were quite impressed by the student to teacher ratio at Huakailani and the all girls enrollment structure. I have volunteered at my son’s 3rd grade class last year and sadly enough realized that at this grade the girls can get very distracted by the boys. So we decided to enroll our daughter in Huakailani and have been very impressed by her active participation in the classroom, her more focused energy on her homework now that she attends the after school study studio where there are actually people there to help her vs. simply supervising the children, and the self confidence that she now has to speak up in class and to assert herself. We are extremely pleased with our daughter’s progress and would highly recommend this school to others. We are not “higher income” people, simply working class trying to make it in Hawaii and realize that finances often limit people’s decisions to enroll their children in private school but we found that the education that our daughter has received is priceless. The staff is wonderful and have been very receptive to our daughter’s needs. They work as a great team in order to make learning fun for the girls and not a “chore”, or boring or tedious. We are very lucky to have our daughter in this school and extra lucky as we live and work on the windward side.

– W. Davis

We had an unusual situation in that we were in Hawaii for three months in early 2010 with our thirteen year daughter, a middle school student. After the three months, she would return to the same public middle school in Massachusetts.   Huakailani came up with a brilliant plan to address our child’s learning needs through coordinating with the Massachusetts curriculum, aggressively addressing our agreed upon learning objectives, and using technology to support this though self-directed learning projects. It all worked incredibly well for our daughter and she returned to her middle school ahead in all her classes.  Huakailani is truly holistic  with lots of field trips, community service projects, art, music, and technology.  All children should be able to attend a school as wonderful, supportive, and fun as Huakailani.

           – D. Buckley

Huakailani School has been a wonderful school for my daughter! She loves her teachers and her friends, she enjoys the hands-on projects they do and the interactive technology. We love the individualized curriculum and the caring teaching staff. At her former school, my daughter’s teacher struggled to keep her challenged in language arts. At Huakailani, they have her working at two grade levels ahead and my daughter enjoys the challenge.

– M. Ainsworth