Dr. Wai‘ale‘ale Arroyo
Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Interim Po‘o Kula
Dr. WAI‘ALE‘ALE ARROYO, Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Interim Po‘o Kula
Dr. WAI‘ALE‘ALE ARROYO, Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Interim Po‘o Kula
Dr. Wai‘ale‘ale Arroyo was named the interim po‘o kula of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama in March 2025.
Her deep-rooted Hawaiian culture and identity profoundly shape her educational philosophy and personal choices. She has firsthand experience with Hawaiian culture-based education (HCBE), having led Ke Kula ‘o Samuel M. Kamakau, a K-12 Hawaiian language immersion public charter school, and chosen HCBE schools for her own children. Her leadership is characterized by building communities grounded in trust, humility, unity and Hawaiian values.
Dr. Arroyo has held several leadership positions since joining KS in 2012, including managing director of Kūamahi Community Education Division, interim vice president of Strategic Planning Implementation and Community Education and director of Ho‘olako Like Division supporting Hawaiian-focused public charter schools. In 2019, she became vice president of Hi‘ialo, which oversees 30 Hawaiian-focused preschools statewide and provides community education services and supports.
Prior to joining the KS ‘ohana, Dr. Arroyo served as chief of staff for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), po‘o kula of Ke Kula ‘o Samuel M. Kamakau and CEO of INPEACE a Native Hawaiian education non-profit.
She holds a Doctor of Education degree in educational professional practice and a Master of Education degree in private school leadership from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, an MBA from Hawai‘i Pacific University and a bachelor’s degree in education — with emphasis on Hawaiian language and culture — from UH Mānoa.
As a Native Hawaiian woman raised on Hawaiian Home Lands in Waimānalo, Dr. Arroyo is also a mea ho‘ōla, a traditional Hawaiian healing practitioner restoring ‘ōiwi-based healing practices in the home.
