About us

Aloha mai kākou e nā kūpuna, nā mākua, nā kahu hānai keiki, a me nā hoaloha o ke Kula Ha‘aha‘a ‘o Kamehameha,

Kamehameha Schools is an educational institution that carries on the legacy of its founder, Bernice Pauahi Bishop and has served haumāna of Native Hawaiian ancestry for more than 120 years. Kula Ha`aha`a, our elementary school, formerly known as the preparatory department, opened its doors on May 18, 1888 at Ka‘iwiula, as a boarding school for boys under age 12, and operated for 40 years. It closed in 1932 due to lack of funding during the depression and reopened in 1943 at the McNeil Street site as a co-educational day school. In 1955, the Preparatory Department was dedicated at Kapālama Heights, its current location. We are now part of a larger system of schools across Hawai‘i with K through 12 campuses located on Maui and Hawai‘i Island as well as numerous preschools across our pae `aina.

Here at Kula Ha‘aha‘a ma Kapālama, we strive to educate the whole child by providing enriching experiences that develop their mind, body, spirit and social consciousness. Our students are immersed in a dynamic and nurturing learning community where “children can be children”, a place where play is valued, and needs are met through individualized and developmentally appropriate expectations, curricula, and modalities.

Building upon the kahua of E Ola! Learner Outcomes, we commit to the development of our K-12 haumāna as future alaka`i lawelawe (servant leaders) of the 21st century, grounded in Christian and Hawaiian values. We put our keiki at the center and support our haumāna embracing their identity, reflecting on their growth, and developing the skills to adapt successfully to the various kūlana or roles they assume in life. They engage in learning that challenges them to be curious, to be critical thinkers, and to apply knowledge in a highly ethical manner. The focus on our Founderʻs wishes for haumāna to develop as “good and industrious young men and women” is inherent to their development and success as effective members of a global community where their contributions will impact the greater good.

At KES, students are encouraged to use a diverse set of resources fostering an innate desire to seek knowledge and multiple perspectives which enhances the development of their own personal world view. Throughout our curriculum, students are asked to collaborate, problem-solve, innovate, create, and transform their knowledge through the blending of imagination, intuition and intellect to address complex, relevant and real world problems.

In every child there lies a promise for students to reach beyond their potential. They are encouraged to discover their gifts, talents and passion through the many interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, extracurricular and co-curricular experiences that blend the core academics with ‘Ōlelo a Mo‘omeheu Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language and culture), Music, Art, PE, Christian Education, and Media and Technology. Our entire learning community is positioned to transform the way that we engage in learning to access, demonstrate understanding of, and create new knowledge with our 1:1 devices. We acknowledge the changing paradigm of education and the importance of preparing our students to live in interdependence with all that surrounds them, physically, spiritually, emotionally and intellectually.

Me ka ‘oia ‘i‘o,
Deede Santiago
Po‘o Kumu
Kula Ha‘aha‘a ‘o Kamehameha ma Kapālama