Monday message 01.29.2024

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and we hope this message finds you well as we conclude the month of January. As we head into the month of February, on Thursday of this week, we will turn our character trait focus over to RESPONSIBILITY.

When we talk about Alaka’i O Kaua’i (leaders of Kaua’i) in our learning community, it should really include all the members of our learning community. We are pleased to share that our dedicated staff has lived up to that name with their work in “The Thinking Classroom Hawai’i” over the last few years. This program has been brought to our campus from Harvard University with some generous financial support from the Hawai’i Charter Commission, and we are one of only a handful of schools that participated in the state of Hawai’i.

The program was scheduled to conclude with the Culminating Event last November in Honolulu, where our school presented our learnings. Last week the staff at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School continued the program independently with a full on-campus “Snapshot” organized by the diligent Mrs. Shay. A “Snapshot” involves a group of teachers heading into another teacher’s classroom and observing the lesson. Afterward, everyone comes together and debriefs the experience to discuss best practices witnessed by visiting another classroom. We were extremely fortunate to have Board of Directors member Kumu Chris Town be part of the debrief last week, as he has decades of successful educational leadership that he shares with our school. As lifelong learners, we have also incorporated “The Thinking Classroom Hawai’i” protocols into our staff meetings so we can continue to “See, Think, Wonder” on how to improve education at our unique school.

Mahalo nui for your support of our annual School Choice Spirit Week on campus. We enjoyed all the fantastic events, creative costumes, Hot Lunch Day, the Board of Directors public meeting, the Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network Meeting, and the Jog-A-Thon as a few ways that we celebrated our unique approach to education on Kaua’i. A friendly reminder that the Intent To Re-enroll forms are now due so we can start planning our school enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year.

Best wishes for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

DJ Adams
Po’okumu (Director)
Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School
Koloa, Hawai’i

“E hele me ka pu’olo ”
Make Every Person, Place, or Condition Better Than You Left It Always