KAILUA-KONA — Since its founding in 2014, Kuleana Education Academy, currently holding classes in a Kailua-Kona office building, has grown from 21 students to more than double that and is already making its mark in the state.
Just recently, two sixth-graders from the school finished first place in the state in the Hawaii Council on Economic Education’s fall 2017 Hawaii Stock Market Simulation, a three-month stock market game in which hundreds of teams from throughout the islands competed.
Now in its fourth year, the school, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, will have some room to grow and expand students’ learning opportunities with a new permanent campus location at the start of next year.
“It means that we feel that we’re doing what we set out to do, that we’re not just in a camping situation,” said head of school Felicity Johnson. “Is it going to be? Are we going to make it? Are we going to be doing this? What’s happening? All those questions you have when you’re not sure … And now it’s for real.”
The school, a kindergarten through eighth-grade private nonprofit school, is moving to a 3-acre site at Palani Junction. Plans are to open at the new site on Jan. 8, the day students return from their holiday vacation.
“We’re going to thrive now that we have a campus for our kids,” said Dana Kern, board president for Kuleana Education Academy. “That was always the biggest concern, a permanent campus for our kids that has enough space. “
Kuleana Education Academy was founded in 2014, starting classes that fall at a location in Pottery Terrace. Currently, the school occupies a little more than 2,500 square feet in a building off Hualalai Road.
The Palani Junction location already has a two-story building and single-story building — more than 4,000 square feet of floor space in total — for the school to use as its facilities. Kern said the two buildings will house a total of seven classrooms plus a library and administrative offices. The site is also compliant with federal accessibility laws and won’t need any rezoning.
And the best feature, Kern said, is the large expanse of open outdoor space available to amplify the school’s learning opportunities.
“It’s got a huge field for our kids to play on,” said Kern, “lots of open, outdoor space.”
The property also gives the school the opportunity to build additional capacity in the future if it needs to, said Kern, saying there’s room to grow.
But, she said, there aren’t plans to immediately expand the school or dramatically increase enrollment, saying the facilities there are sufficient for what the school needs.
“You want to be able to focus on what you’re good at,” said Kern. “We don’t want to lose the small classes and the things that are important to us. We have to maintain that even though we’re going to a bigger place.”
And the school’s leadership has had their sights on the Palani Junction site for some time now, with Kern saying they “knew it was perfect.”
“And it just feels right,” said Johnson. “Yesterday we were there and it just felt right somehow.”
“And you know that magic will happen.”
