4 images AOK learners. 3 in classrooms and 1 decorating with chalk participating in Hawai'i Charter Commission visits.
02 May

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and we hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we enter the final month of the 2024-2025 school year. Mahalo nui for your incredible support of our unique charter school, especially as we prepare to celebrate the learning of our amazing learners.

In the last five years, we have witnessed continued academic success at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School as verified by the annual mandatory state of Hawai’i testing results. Each public school in our state is required to write the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) tests, which provide a direct comparison to other schools across beautiful Hawai’i. As you probably already know, Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School performs academically above charter schools, public schools on Kaua’i, and public schools in Hawai’i in Science, Language Arts, and Math.

We wish to express our gratitude to our dedicated and talented staff for helping our learners create this amazing success story. Our staff consistently goes above and beyond to provide a top-quality free education for the keiki of Kaua’i. A perfect example of this work can be found through the tireless efforts of Ms. Malissa in her role as Assessment Coordinator. The positive energy and support she brings to our campus uplifts us all.

We look forward to sharing the results of the 2025 SBAC assessments. Please note, however, that this process may take several weeks. Each school in the state can choose to write tests on their timelines, meaning that statewide averages may not be available until late May.

We also wish to express our appreciation to you as parents for making the choice and commitment to attend our school. It is refreshing to work in a learning community that has such a strong bond of collaboration between the home and school.

Best wishes to you all for a marvelous month of May. Malama pono.

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

4 images AOK learners. 3 in classrooms and 1 decorating with chalk participating in Hawai'i Charter Commission visits.
25 Apr

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we quickly approach the end of April.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is a proud member of the state of Hawai’i Charter School system and we are deeply supported by the dedicated staff who work at the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission. In addition to our great gratitude for this helpful staff, we wish to share appreciation for the volunteers who serve as the state of Hawai’i Charter Commissioners. They selflessly give hundreds of hours to help improve education in the beautiful islands of Hawai’i.

The staff at the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission routinely visit our school to support our work in meeting the expectations of Charter Commission Contract 4.0. Last Wednesday we hosted Executive Director Dr. Ed Noh and Deputy Executive Director PJ Foehr at our school. They were eager to learn about the miraculous improvements at our unique charter school over the last five years.

The state of Hawai’i Charter Commission Frameworks Compliance Team visits our school in-person twice per year to work with us on meeting the expectations of Charter Contract 4.0. These dedicated professionals also facilitate an annual review complete with a scoring system for each of the 40+ charter schools in the state of Hawai’i.

We are pleased to share that Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School earned a remarkable 109 points out of a possible 73 points on the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission Academics Performance Framework. That is not a misprint, our school earned bonus points based on academic success multipliers.

We are also pleased to share that Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School earned an amazing 39 points out of a possible 42 points on the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission Organizational Performance Framework. These results are further verification of the fact that Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School has been the fastest improving public school in the state of Hawai’i over the last three years.

Mahalo nui kakou to everyone who has contributed to this wonderful success story at our school. Let’s continue to work together to support a high quality FREE public education for the keiki of Kaua’i.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images of AOK learners playing spots in the AOK gym.
19 Apr

Director DJ’s Message

Hau’oli La Pakoa to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and I hope this message finds you enjoying the conclusion of the Easter Long Weekend.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is incredibly fortunate to have a dedicated and talented staff who go above and beyond to share their expertise with our learners. A perfect example of this work will be on full display on campus on Friday, April 25th, at our annual Sports Spectacular Showcase in the gymnasium. You may already be aware that our school offers girls’ basketball, boys’ basketball, and cheer teams to our learners free of charge. The showcase will feature volleyball this year since we added the Volleyball Club this winter. All these sports will be part of the Sports Spectacular Showcase this Friday.

Great gratitude to Ms. Kate, Kumu Nouveau, Ms. Cheyenne, Ms. Leia (Board of Directors Vice Chair), and Coach Dan (Board of Directors Treasurer) for their countless hours of volunteer service to these programs. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter Schools outperforms any other Elementary or Middle School on the island by offering these free opportunities for our learners.

Please feel free to come to campus and enjoy this special annual event with us. The games will begin at 11 am, and everything should conclude by 12:30 pm. Mr. Paul Zina, our incoming Director for the 2025-2026 school year, will also be in attendance, so you can have an opportunity to meet him as well.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 images of AOK learners participating classes and 2 images of recent improvements to AOK campus.
11 Apr

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and we hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we approach the middle of April. Mahalo nui kakou for your incredible support of our unique charter school and helping us become the fastest-improving public school is the state of Hawai’i over the last three years. There’s no question that Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is gaining prominence as a school of choice with over 150 new learner applications for only about 25 available spots next year.

Ho’omaika’i to all of our amazing athletes who participated at the annual Mayor’s Track Day held on April 5th in Hanapepe. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Ms. Jesica, our dedicated Physical Education teacher, who taught the events to our learners then supported them on site that day. Great work by all involved!

It was wonderful to witness a wonderful virtual lesson on bees in the grade one class ALL the way from the east coast of the United States. Ms. Charton has done an outstanding job of bringing on-island experts in addition to accessing world class educators remotely to build deeper learning for her learners. We love that we now have active bee hives (located just off campus by the orchards) thanks to Ms. Charton’s work and leadership.

We greatly appreciate the terrific improvements we enjoy on campus that happen each and every day due to the talents of Dr. Jon and Mr. Adam. We have begun retiling the bathrooms on Main Campus- just one of their many meaningful contributions to improve our school.

Dr. Jon is also continuing his work on getting the required building permits so we can get started on the construction of the new building on campus. The new building will be located mid-campus between our Middle School located on lower campus and the Main Campus just north of the walkway. As you may recall, this building is going to house the Art and Ike Hawai’i programs that are currently push-in teaching in classrooms.

A helpful reminder that Friday, April 18th is Good Friday and our school will closed in observance of this state holiday.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images of AOK learners participating music and art classes.
03 Apr

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community. I hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we sail deeper into April.

Mahalo nui kakou for entrusting our unique charter school with the opportunity to provide top-notch FREE public education for your Keiki. In the theme of continuous improvement, we wish to share our intentional attempts to live our Mission Statement.

One component of the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School that we wish to examine is the teaching of the arts. Our school is extremely fortunate to have the ever-amazing Ms. Nicole as our incredible art teacher. We greatly appreciate her flexibility in teaching a push-into-the-classroom art program this year. We are excited to get started on the new buildings on campus soon, so that Ms. Nicole will have a dedicated Art Room once again.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School continues to work with outside organizations to bring a greater depth and exposure to music. Last Wednesday we were treated to a talented trio of musicians who shared their amazing musical skills on the violin, cello, and keyboard. We have been thrilled to have a drumming program visit campus and spend eight sessions teaching our learners about drumming from around the planet. We love when Kid Pan Alley comes for their annual work to support our learners in composing and performing their music. Heading into 2025-2026, we will continue to find greater opportunities to enhance all the arts on campus for our talented keiki. If you know of a community organization that could come and work with us at the school, please let us know how we can get connected.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

image of Paul Zina, new AOK Director
29 Mar

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and I hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we approach the month of April.

Five years ago to the month, it was my great fortune in the journey of life to join Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School as Director. Those were challenging times in the history of the school. The state of Hawai’i Charter Commission had just issued a Notice of Concern about closing the school due to financial instability and dwindling enrollment. Fast forward five years and we are now recognized as the fastest improving public school in the state of Hawai’i with strong financial health and waitlists to get into our school.

Mahalo nui kakou for the opportunity to serve as your Director and your support to make this amazing transformation together in the best interest of our learners. It was a great honor and privilege to work in this capacity and make transformational educational changes on Kaua’i and perhaps even in the state of Hawai’i. As some you may know my beautiful and talented wife, Pamela, has semi-retired and we welcomed our first moopuna into the world last year. Thus, the time has come for the torch to be handed to a new Director for our school.

Our dedicated and selfless volunteers who serve faithfully on the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Board of Directors have been diligently searching for a new Director for well over one year now, and have the following announcement to share with our learning community:
————————————————————————–
Dear Alaka’i O Kaua’i community,

We’re thrilled to share that Paul Zina will be the new director for Alaka’i in the 2025-2026 school year.

While we had many criteria that were important for the new director, the three things we aimed for were:

  1. A person on island who understands the culture of the school and our community
  2. A person who has extensive experience as an educator and administrator
  3. A person who can elevate our school to new heights especially around our burgeoning middle school program

After careful consideration, we found Paul to be the perfect fit.

With over 24 years of experience (as an educator, vice principal, principal and complex area superintendent) on Kauai, Paul brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to Alaka’i. Paul’s leadership will build upon the strong foundation previous Directors have laid, while also bringing fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to guide our school forward. He is passionate about fostering a collaborative and supportive environment where every learner will thrive. As parents, we’re excited about the future of our children’s education under his leadership.

The official handover from DJ to Paul will be on July 1st, but you may see him around before then. We will be organizing opportunities in the near future for you to meet him and to learn more about his vision for our school. Please join us in warmly welcoming Paul to our school and community.

Together, as a strong and supportive ʻohana, we will continue to empower our students to become lifelong learners and contributing members of our community.

Warm Regards,

The Governing Board of Alaka’i O Kaua’i
————————————————————–

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 black and white images of Prince Kuhio
22 Mar

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. We hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we return from the annual Spring Break. We look forward to seeing everyone back on campus on Monday, March 24th, for a couple of days. We will then be away from campus on Wednesday, March 26th, in observance of Prince Kūhiō Day.

The incredible person Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole was born on March 26, 1871, right down the road from the school in the Kōloa District of Kaua‘i to High Chief David Kahalepouli Pi‘ikoi and Princess Kinoiki Kekaulike, the youngest daughter of Kaumuali‘i, the last King of Kaua‘i. By the age of 13, he was named a Prince by a royal proclamation from his Uncle, King Kalākaua.

Prince Kūhiō is best known for his work for the people of Hawai’i as he acted as the Republican candidate for delegate to Congress. He served as a non-voting delegate from Hawai‘i to the House of Representatives in Congress from 1902 until he died in 1922. As an active statesman, Prince Kūhiō shaped the foundation for Hawai‘i’s modern government structure. Prince Kuhio was responsible for instituting the county system still in place today, and he sponsored the first bill for Hawai‘i‘s statehood in 1919.

Just a few of his significant accomplishments include a $27 million appropriation for dredging and construction of Pearl Harbor, the establishment of the Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse, the build-out of the Territorial building, the Hilo Wharf, the establishment of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea National Park, and construction of a hospital at the Kalaupapa Settlement for lepers. To help further perpetuate and rehabilitate the Hawaiian people and their culture, Prince Kūhiō helped form the first Hawaiian Civic Club in 1918, a movement that now boasts over 50 distinct organizations across Hawai‘i and the United States.

Prince Kūhiō also re-established the Royal Order of Kamehameha I in 1903 and served as Ali‘i ‘Ai Moku until his death on January 7, 1922 at his home in Waikīkī. A few days before his passing, Prince Kūhiō urged his friend to continue fighting for native Hawaiian rights and “to stick together and try to agree to the best of your ability to meet the most important problem: the rehabilitation of our race.”

Hopefully we can all find some time on Wednesday to reflect on the many incredible contributions and accomplishments of Prince Kuhio.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images mourning the loss of AOK learner, Paxton
15 Mar

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and hope this message finds you in a place of peace during some difficult times in our sphere. As many of you may know already, it is with a heavy heart that I sadly share the passing of Paxton, a learner in Grade Three. Paxton was an incredible young person who left us far, far too soon and he is deeply missed on our campus. We share great admiration for his strong battle against leukemia and he is a shining role model of courage for us all.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is incredibly blessed to be a Socio-Emotional Learning school where we live into our Mission Statement and sincerely care about each other. We are filled with sadness and grief because Paxton was loved at our school, as you can see in this loving memory video for Paxton.

We have come together as a learning community during this difficult time in IKAIKA (strength and power) for Paxton, his ohana, our keiki, our staff, and our learning community. Our creative learners named our school pueo mascot IKAIKA so it seems natural that we support each other with strength and power to move forward in this journey of grief.

Mahalo nui kakou for your amazing efforts to support our learning community. We fully respect and understand the difficult impact that this loss has had on our learning community. Please look after each other and seek resources as needed, especially when emotions seem too much to process. Below are a few suggestions to support challenging conversations:

1. Acknowledge and Validate Feelings:

  • Create a safe space: Let your child know it’s okay to feel sad, angry, confused, or any other emotion related to the loss.
  • Use open-ended questions: Instead of asking “Are you okay?”, ask “How are you feeling about this?” or “What’s on your mind?”
  • Share your own feelings: It can be helpful to share your grief or sadness, but be mindful of your child’s emotional capacity.
  • Reassure them: Remind them that their feelings are valid and that you love them no matter what.
  • Acknowledge the specific loss: Talk about the classmate and their relationship with them, and acknowledge the pain of the loss.

2. Provide Information in an Age-Appropriate Way:

  • Be honest and clear: Avoid euphemisms or vague language, especially with younger children.
  • Answer their questions directly: Address their concerns and questions with sensitivity and honesty.
  • Explain death in simple terms: For younger children, you might say something like “They are not here anymore, and they won’t come back,” rather than using complex language.
  • Reiterate the permanence of death: Make sure children understand that death is final.

3. Encourage Remembrance and Support:

  • Talk about the deceased: Share positive memories and stories about the classmate.
  • Attend memorial services or events: If appropriate, attend the funeral or memorial service with your child.
  • Create a memory box or scrapbook: Encourage your child to collect photos, drawings, or other items related to the classmate to help them remember.
  • Engage in activities that honor the memory: Consider planting a tree, donating to a charity in the classmate’s name, or doing something else meaningful.
  • Provide ongoing support: Check in with your child regularly and offer continued support as they process their grief.
  • Connect with other families: If appropriate, help your child connect with other families who knew the deceased.
  • Seek professional help if needed: If your child is struggling to cope with their grief, consider seeking professional help from a therapist or counselor.

Please reach out to us at the school if we can assist in any way. We are planning to plant a tree on campus in Paxton’s honor, and a Memorial Service is being put together for him in April.

Best wishes to you all for a peaceful Spring Break and we look forward to seeing everyone back on campus on Monday, March 24th. Malama pono.

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

4 images of AOK learners participating the outdoors Lunch on Lawn event
05 Mar

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. We hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we approach our annual Spring Break.

Mahalo nui kakou to everyone who graced our campus last Friday for the March School-Wide Assembly, Learner-Led Conferences, and Lunch on Lawn. We were thrilled to see the large number of people from our learning community who took the time and effort to celebrate the work of our students.

We are excited for our upcoming Spirit Week, celebrating “Aloha Across America”. Our great gratitude goes to Mrs. Shay and Ms. Kate who worked together to plan all the fun events. There is no question that one of the highlights from last year will be replicated this Tuesday with the creation of a giant lei on campus. We are asking all our learners and staff members to bring one carefully and respectfully harvested flower to school, and from everyone’s contributions, we will create one giant lei. Last year we placed the school lei on the school sign out front and finished by singing the school song together.

For more precise details, please check out the flyer that came home in the Green Folders and was also distributed via ParentSquare.

This is a helpful reminder that our annual Spring Break will be March 17th to March 21st, with no school for our learners during that time.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images of AOK learners participating in school activities outside in the field
28 Feb

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. We hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we enter the month of March. Mahalo nui for your support of our unique charter school. It is hard to imagine that we sit a few short weeks away from the annual Spring Break from March 15th to March 23rd.

We hosted the delightful Makahiki Games on campus again this year under nearly perfect conditions. We are extremely proud of our learners for their active and enthusiastic participation in this fun event. Great to see our school move ever closer to embracing Hawai’ian cultural traditions in the beautiful space we share in Kahili Valley.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School will try a new concept in the theme of continuous improvement on our campus. On Friday, March 7th, we will experience a trifecta of fun at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School by offering three events on one day. We hope that by hosting three events on one day, more members of our learning community will be empowered to join us for the festivities on campus.

We will start with the school-wide Assembly for March in the Main Gym, starting at 9 am. The Assembly usually lasts around one hour, and then we will take a short recess break before starting the Learner Led Conferences at 10:30 am. Please reach out to the classroom teacher for specific details on this important sharing of learning by our keiki. We will conclude the day with another “Lunch on the Lawn” where everyone is warmly invited to enjoy your lunch together on the field.

We LOVE hosting our learning community on our campus and hope you can find some time on March 7th to join some or all of the trifecta of fun.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images of learners participating in various AOK events
20 Feb

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness.Mahalo nui kakou for your contributions to our learning community and for creating a strong bond of collaboration in serving our keiki.

A perfect example of this positive relationship was the work together in the “Name the Pueo” Contest. We heard the voices of all of our learners in this process before announcing the winning name of IKAIKA brought forth by the Grade Four class. Translated from Hawai’ian to English the word IKAIKA means strength, power, mighty, and determined.

Please enjoy the photo from the name announcement from our last school wide Assembly where the learners (Orah and AJ the Spelling Champions), the Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network (Ms. Kalina-President), the Board of Directors (Mr. Bob-Chairperson), and the staff (Mr. Jon- Head of Facilities and Maintenance) are all represented.

Recently our Middle School learners participated in the first ever island-wide Makahiki Games in Lihu’e. We greatly appreciate Kumu Noe and kumu Nouveau for organizing this event and we are pleased to announce the following winners:

  • Wena’ula Naumu, 6th grade, 1st place, island-wide for HAKA MOA
  • Wena’ula, Sawyer, Orah & Zenith, 2nd place island-wide for KUKINI
  • Koa Shay, 8th grade, 1st place island-wide for O’O ‘IHE
  • Dustin, Tui, Stella, Aine, Makoa & Sierra, 2nd place, island-wide for HUKIHUKI

It was wonderful to see the Kindergarten class grow, harvest, and eat sweet potatoes here on campus under the steady guidance of Ms. Joeanne. We are also thrilled to see the Grade Two and one of the Grade Six classes continue their work together as Classroom Buddies to deepen their learning.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images of learners participating in school activities, spelling bee and award ceremonies
14 Feb

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and we hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we approach the midpoint of February. Mahalo nui for your continued support of our unique charter school.

This week we wish to share some happy success stories from our school dedicated to nurturing the young leaders of Kaua’i. Ho’omaika’i to Orah and AJ for their outstanding accomplishments at last week’s annual Kaua’i Spelling Bee Championship in Lihu’e. We are extremely proud to share that both learners achieved the top level of spelling and will head to the state of Hawai’i Spelling Bee Championship in Honolulu in March. Orah finished first place and AJ finished in second place outlasting every other participant from all the schools on Kaua’i.

Our great gratitude to you all for your generosity in supporting the events we hold on campus in collaboration with Kaua’i Charity Walk. Last week the 46th annual Charity Walk Kick-Off Breakfast was held. For the third year in a row, Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School was recognized as the top not-for-profit fundraising organization on Kaua’i. This incredible accomplishment would not have been possible without your support and kindness.

We appreciate the leadership demonstrated by learners on campus every day. The Grade Eight leadership projects have evolved and developed this year under the guidance of Ms. Kate. One wonderful example is the Pueo Paper, a student newspaper published every several weeks.

Mahalo nui e Ms. Charton and the Grade One class for introducing bees back to Kahili Valley. We look forward to sharing future updates on this happy work.

A helpful reminder that Monday, February 17th is the federal holiday of President’s Day and the campus will be closed on that day.

Best wishes to you all for a fabulous February. Malama pono.

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

4 images of learners participating in school activities
07 Feb

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and I hope this message finds you all enjoying a fabulous February thus far.

Mahalo nui for your support of our unique charter school and it is wonderful to share some updates this week about emerging programs. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School continues to search for new opportunities to improve the quality of education to our deserving learners.

We greatly appreciate the hard work of our staff, especially Mr. Logan, with the expanded emergence of the Science program at our school. Mr. Logan has vast experience as a Science teacher and has taken over all the Science classes in Middle School. Mr. Logan has been a champion of our students being engaged in programs outside of the school and several of our students recently participated in the annual Kaua’i Finalists Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Two of our students presented exceptionally well and were each recognized for additional awards. Jack received a National Professional Organization Award from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) for his research on the effects on the number of bird species (with a focus on Kaua’i native birds) numbers in golf courses with more water features. Max received a Regional Science and Engineering Fair Award, Office of Naval Research Award, and Top Project Award for his work on Acoustic Levitation. Ho’omaika’i to Jack and Max on this amazing news and we are incredibly proud of your accomplishments. We also understand that great scientists start early and love seeing many experiments at all levels on campus,s including a great lesson that involved cookies in Grade Two class.

After-school clubs are now in full swing this week, and I loved seeing the addition of the Cheer Team get started last Tuesday. We greatly appreciate Ms. Cheyenne sharing her skills and background with our learners and look forward to their performance in our annual Sports Spectacular Showcase in late April.

Our community work with Alakoko Fish Pond continues as the Grade Four students traveled there last Wednesday to help improve the infrastructure there.

This is a helpful reminder that the annual Hawai’i State Teachers Association (HSTA) Institute Day will be held on Monday, February 10th. This is a day set aside that our teachers are lifelong learners, and they go back to school to improve their craft of teaching. There will be no school for our students on that day.

Best wishes to you all for a fabulous February. Malama pono.

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

4 images, 3 images of AOK learners at various School Choice Week events. 1 image of the AOK mascot, a carved wooden owl.
30 Jan

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we step into a Lunar New Year. We share our great gratitude to you all for your support of the annual School Choice Week celebrated on campus last week. We appreciate all the creative fun we enjoyed due to the organization of the ever-diligent Mrs. Shay.

As part of School Choice Week, we witnessed the start-up of the after-school sports programs on campus. Thank you to all the selfless volunteers who coach these sports, ensuring that they are free of charge for our learners. Both girls and boys basketball resumed their fifth year of operations while volleyball made an appearance for the first time in the history of the school. Watch for upcoming information on the Cheer Team that will commence in the coming weeks.

The marvelous musicians from Kid Pan Alley returned to work with our learners again this year. It is wonderful to hear their creative ideas grow into beautiful songs. Additionally, the “Name the Pueo” Contest saw a massive response from our learners and we were thrilled with the quality of their ideas. The winning name will be revealed at our next school-wide assembly in February.

A helpful update for your planning purposes: the annual Hawai’i State Teachers Association Institute Day will be held island-wide on Monday, February 10th and there will be no school for learners that day.

Best wishes to you all for a fabulous February. Malama pono.

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

4 images, 3 images of AOK learners at various school events. 1 image of the AOK mascot, a carved wooden owl.
23 Jan

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. We hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we approach the end of January. We understand that attending Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is a choice and mahalo nui kakou for your support. This upcoming week is National School Choice Week, an annual event celebrated nationwide, including on our campus.

School Choice Week is time set aside for us all to reflect and appreciate that our school is an alternative opportunity for a high-quality free public education for the keiki of Kaua’i. Please accept our great gratitude for your support of our unique charter school that operates a touch differently than other schools. This is thanks to our commitment to follow our mission to teach the whole child by combining academics, project-based learning, socio-emotional learning, and the arts. Last week we enjoyed a site visit from the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission Frameworks Team who were immensely impressed with the congruence between our daily life on campus and our mission statement.

As part of School Choice Week, we are excited to see the creative names that our learners will submit for the “Name the Pueo” contest during School Choice Week. The beautifully wooden carved pueo that currently graces our front office is in search of a name and we are thrilled that our learners will be involved in the process. We will also enthusiastically welcome back Kid Pan Alley to our school for our students in Grades 3-5. Last year, the talented musicians from Kid Pan Alley worked diligently with our engaged learners to compose and perform a unique song per classroom. We immensely enjoyed the culminating concert where the songs were shared with the whole school.

After seven long years of continued efforts to repair the leaky gym roof, we are ecstatic to share a success story. Our talented “Dr.” Jon and Mr. Adam spent several days attempting to patch and seal the 15,000 square feet that make up the gym roof. When the rain returned to campus again after the work was complete, zero major leaks were found and the gym floor was dry. This work is transformational in our seven-year history of the school and creates much more usable space at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. Mahalo nui e “Dr.” Jon and Mr. Adam for your skillful contributions to improving the school.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful last week of January. Malama pono.

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

2 side by side images of Martin Luther King Jr.
18 Jan

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and we hope this message finds you in good health and happiness on this long weekend.

On Monday, January 20th we will hopefully all take some time on a day away from school to reflect on the contributions of the remarkable Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. One of his immense number of powerful quotes that stands out is “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

We greatly appreciate your support of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter where we choose to have the audacity to believe that all people can have education and culture for their minds. As our school continues to expand, evolve, and explore we see tremendous growth in our young learners and are excited to see where their bright futures will take them in the coming decades.

Last week we were fortunate enough to host the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission Frameworks Compliance Team visit our campus as part of our Charter Contract 4.0. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School has earned 127 out of 100 points on our annual MAI Report. I am happy to share that the remarkable 127 out of 100 is not a misprint as our school gained bonus points on multipliers as part of the performance equation. The Frameworks Compliance Team also left us with fresh ideas and challenges that we will cheerfully embrace in the theme of continuous improvement. One such idea that is exciting and informative is to track our learners after they leave our school in Grade Eight to see what amazing contributions they continue to make in our world.

Let’s all continue to have the audacity suggested by Dr. King and continue to advocate for a high-quality free public education for ALL the Keiki of Kaua’i.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images, of learners and staff showing off some project based learning programs
10 Jan

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and welcome to the fresh calendar year of 2025. Sincere best wishes to you all for a successful year ahead filled with health and happiness.

Please accept our great gratitude for supporting the numerous project-based learning activities we hold on campus. A perfect example is the Grade Two class project of creating soap. The learners, under the great guidance of Mrs. Shay, grew their loofah in their school garden, harvested the loofah, and incorporated the dried loofah into their newly created soap. As shown in the main image this week, the learners were happy to sell their soap and all sales will directly fund their future project-based learning activities. The other photos this week show several grades coming together to celebrate a project-based learning activity, in addition to the Physical Education classes enjoying parachute games.

We enjoyed a smooth return to campus last week and appreciate everyone’s helpfulness in settling back into our school operational routines. One area we are trying to improve in 2025 is tardiness. We ask that everyone be on campus and ready to participate in the Morning Piko that starts at 8:45 am.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is honored to be part of “The Thinking Classroom Hawai’i” cohort under the steady guidance of Harvard University. Last week, Ms. Tina visited from Massachusetts to work with our staff on protocols to help reach a deeper level of thinking for our learners. Then again this weekend a dedicated group of our staff members traveled to O’ahu for numerous sessions to gain a greater knowledge of the program. We are fortunate to have such an engaged group of educators who work at our school and are constantly looking for ways to enhance the education offered here. We also wish to acknowledge the generosity of the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission for their financial support of our involvement in “The Thinking Classroom Hawai’i.”

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School continues to grow and expand our program offerings. We are currently searching to fill two Educational Assistant positions that would be working in Middle School and Special Education. If you have any interest in working at the school, please contact us and we can share more details.

Best wishes for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

4 images. top 2 of learners boarding a boat. bottom 2 of construction on campus.
03 Jan

Director DJ’s Message

A belated Hau’oli Makahiki Hou to all in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and we hope this message finds you enjoying your annual Winter Break.

Even though we miss our engaged learners on campus during the Winter Break, Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is still in operations due to the work of our dedicated twelve month employees. Mahalo nui to Ms. Jennifer, Ms. Patricia, Kumu Nouveau, Mr. Geordan, Mr. Jon, and Mr. Adam for their tireless work in keeping the school functioning at a high level. Our school has daily business and maintenance work that needs to be performed to prepare for the return of staff on January 6th, followed by our learners on January 7th.

An area of great impact for our learning community is the campus improvements that Dr. Jon (we have affectionally bestowed a PhD in Fixology to him) and Mr. Adam have been working on. As you can see from the photos from this week, both gentlemen have been diligently working on the leaks found in the roof of our gym. Additionally, Dr. Jon and Mr. Adam rebuilt the stairs to the stage and installed new carpet on the stairs. We feel these improvements will have a positive impact on everyone at our school. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School will continue to work with our landlords at Knudsen Trust on our lease, focusing on areas such as the gym roof and the maintenance of the gravel road that leads to campus.

In the days leading up to the Winter Break, our Grade Four learners took another Field Trip to the Alakoko Fish Pond. We are privileged to be part of this important revitalization which honors centuries of history on beautiful Kaua’i. It is wonderful to see our learners become deeply involved in respecting Hawai’ian cultural values and traditions as outlined in our school’s mission statement.

A helpful reminder that our school will be following the Hawai’i Department of Education 2024-2025 school year calendar with learners returning to campus on Tuesday, January 7th.

Best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2025. We are excited to see everyone back on campus this week. Malama pono.

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

4 images, learners playing outside, 1 facilitator in front of a tree and one image of AOK's food bank
26 Dec

Director DJ’s Message

An early Hau’oli Makahiki Hou to everyone in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and we hope you are enjoying your Winter Break. We appreciate our work together to provide a quality free public education for the keiki of Kaua’i and look forward to our continued collaboration in 2025.

Mahalo nui kakou for your generosity in supporting the annual Holiday Hamper program at our school.

Ho’omaika’i e Ms. Jenny for earning the prestigious honor of being named the top practitioner in the state of Hawai’i in the month of December. We greatly respect and appreciate her amazing work in keeping our precious keiki healthy.

It is hard to imagine but a bizarre weather pattern caused a Snow Day on campus as seen in our main image this week. We wish to recognize the Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network for causing this rare weather phenomenon.

It was magical to see Bottle Rockets being launched on campus last week. Our gratitude to Mark Howard who shared his rocket engineering expertise with our Grade Four students. This event on our remote campus is another perfect example of the reasons that Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is incredibly unique.

Best wishes for a prosperous 2025 filled with health and happiness. Malama pono.

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

4 image collage of learners at an annual PBL event
20 Dec

Director DJ’s Message

An early Mele Kalikimaka greeting to all in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and we hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we enter the Winter Break. Mahalo nui for your wonderful support of all the recent festive activities on campus. We immensely enjoyed the added energy and enthusiasm that our learners exhibited this holiday season.

A perfect example of your support can be found by examining the annual Christmas Craft Fair. As a school that embraces project-based learning activities, we are proud of our creative learners and the artistic crafts they made again this school year. The annual Christmas Craft Fair is spearheaded by the Grade Five class under the leadership of Ms. Collette and included involvement from every single learner in our school. We love witnessing both the school wide engagement of all of our keiki and the support of our learning community.

This year’s Christmas Craft Fair raised over $5,300 towards the support of Not-For-Profit Organizations globally for their important work protecting endangered animals. A helpful reminder that not one penny comes to our school and all funds raised go directly to the organizations. A perfect example of this positive relationship created is that the Grade Five class has now adopted an orphaned African Elephant named Toto. Please accept our great gratitude for your generosity in the support of this project-based learning activity that has far reaching global impacts.

Winter Break at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School has begun. We hope that everyone enjoys a break filled with food, family, and fun. Learners will return to campus on Tuesday, January 7th, 2025 to commence the second half of the school year.

Malama pono.

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

4 images. top 2 of learners and families at school events. bottom 2 of construction on campus.
11 Dec

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and we hope that this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we enter the last week of school before Winter Break. Mahalo nui kakou for your contributions to a smooth and successful 2024-2025 thus far. It is hard to imagine that we are almost at the midpoint of the school year. We appreciate your unconditional support of our school and look forward to our continued collaboration to improve education in Kaua’i.

We greatly appreciate the good work of Mr. Jon and Mr. Adam who consistently repair and construct on campus to improve our experiences. Two small examples of their outstanding skills occurred last week when they welded the soccer goals on campus and constructed a concrete walkway to the field. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is fortunate to have two such dedicated staff members and we applaud their work.

Ho’omaika’i to everyone who participated in the annual school Spelling Bee where we witnessed over 20 rounds of outstanding spelling from our learners. We celebrate the school’s winners, AJ Gregorius and Orah McGee, and send them best wishes for the Kaua’i Spelling Bee happening in early 2025. We also wish to express our gratitude to Ms. Jynatha who organized this year’s event and to Ms. Patricia, Ms. Jennifer, and Mr. Adam, our talented judges.

Mahalo nui kakou to everyone who contributed to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School entry in the annual “Lights on Rice” parade. Once again it demonstrated the strong bond in our learning community between the learners, parents, and the school. The weather cooperated near the parade start time and we enjoyed a festive adventure being part of this great event on our island. We greatly appreciate all the hours of effort put into the float by our dedicated Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network and Mrs. Shay, who acted as our school liaison.

We are excited to celebrate another Spirit Week on campus starting on Monday so please check your previous ParentSquare messages for full details. The next school-wide Assembly is on Friday, December 20th at 9 am in the gymnasium. All members of our learning community are warmly welcome to attend.

A helpful reminder that the annual Winter Break will run from December 21st to January 6th inclusively. We look forward to students returning to school on Tuesday, January 7th, 2025 for a full day of school.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

Learners with their crafts
04 Dec

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and I hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we sail into the month of December.

Mahalo for your support of our unique charter school, especially given all the extra programs, field trips, educational enrichments, and FUN events that we embrace at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School.

We are enjoying the transition over to the festive month of December and appreciate your assistance with all the extra excitement on campus this month. It is GREAT to see the robust response to our annual Holiday Hamper program and witness the happy participants in the annual “Lights On Rice” parade. A happy reminder that the Grade Five Presentation of Learning of the Christmas Craft Fair will be this upcoming Friday, December 13th, in the gymnasium along with the Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network Hot Lunch Day. This week’s photos give a sneak peek at some of the creative crafts that our students have made for the event.

In this season of giving, please accept my gratitude for the gift of you. For the last five years, it has been my great privilege and honor to serve as your Po’okumu at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and your unconditional support of our unique charter school is deeply appreciated. As many of you may recall, it was my intention to retire last year to spend time with my first mo’opuna. Despite great efforts by our Board of Directors, we did not secure a new leader for our school, and it is my great pleasure to continue as Po’okumu again in 2024-2025. The Board of Directors has already commenced the search to have a new Po’okumu in place for 2025-2026, and here is a message outlining the process.

Aloha Parents, Students, and Staff in the Alaka’i Community,

We understand that with DJ’s expected departure at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, there may be some concern and anxiety. We agree that he is incredible and impossible to replace. Our standards are set very high because of him and we don’t plan on anything less. The governing board of Alaka’i has been actively reviewing candidates for the last few months, and we plan to hold in-person interviews in early 2025. Our hope is that we will be able to introduce the next Director by the end of March 2025. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Bob Wu, the governing chair at bob.wu.board@alakaiokauai.org.

Mahalo for your time and patience with our process,

Alaka’i Board of Directors

Best wishes for a wonderful Wednesday. Malama pono.

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

Alakai learners from multiple grades posing in front of a turkey cutout.
26 Nov

Director DJ’s Message

Hau’oli La Ho’omaika’i to everyone in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and I hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we conclude the Thanksgiving Break.

In this season of gratitude, please accept our appreciation for your support of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. It seems surreal that we have arrived in December.

With a new month, our next school-wide assembly will quickly come, and we will come together and celebrate the accomplishments of our amazing learners. We will be excited to award the top male and top female from each grade level from our fifth annual Turkey Trot that was recently held on campus. In this edition, we will share the photos of those winners from kindergarten to grade eight right after the Turkey Trot concluded.

As we move into December, it is time to commence our annual Holiday Hamper program. This festive event connects those in our learning community with abundance with those who may have a touch less. As with our usual practice, a table will be placed at the front entrance to Main Campus, where those with abundance are invited to drop off non-perishable food items anonymously. The table is intentionally not monitored so that those in our learning community with less are warmly welcomed to take from the table as needed. A new addition for this year is that the student-directed Kindness Club will be looking after the Holiday Hamper program.

If anyone in our learning community is in need, then please contact me directly, and we will make sure that you have food on your table for the holidays. Please know you have my professional and personal assurance that this information will be kept private plus confidential, as our endeavor is simply to ensure the sharing of abundance for all.

Best wishes to you all for a delightful December. Malama pono.

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

22 Nov

Director DJ’s Message

Hau’oli La Ho’omaika’i greetings to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. We hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we approach Thanksgiving. In this season of gratitude, please accept this message of appreciation for your support of our unique charter school. Some learners started with us when we opened seven years ago, and we greatly respect their patience as the school moved from surviving to thriving.

We also wish to recognize Ms. Kate and her excellent leadership. She hosts the Kindness Club, a fun group that gets together every Wednesday to promote kindness everywhere on our campus. The latest project that the Kindness Club has been working on together is “Kindness Rocks” in which learners decorate rocks with messages to spread kindness.

Last Friday we held our fifth annual Turkey Trot on campus. This cross-country physical activity was held on a new course for our staff and students. We are proud of all the participants and look forward to awarding the prizes to the top male and top female from each grade level at our next School-Wide Assembly.

A helpful reminder that Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday from Thursday, November 28th to Sunday, December 1st. We look forward to seeing everyone back on campus on Monday, December 2nd.

Best wishes for a terrific Thanksgiving break filled with food, fun, and family. Malama pono.

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

2 side-by-side images of AOK community standing outside in during the winter holiday for annual "lights on rice" event
15 Nov

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and I hope this November message finds you all in good health and happiness.

In this season of gratitude, it’s important to reflect on the contributions of others who have graciously volunteered their time, energy, and enthusiasm to improve our school. Mahalo nui to the great people who serve on our Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network for your limitless work over the years to enhance the experiences for our learners.

A perfect example of their volunteerism is the monthly Hot Lunch offered by Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network. Hosting the Hot Lunch involves significant time and effort including ordering, picking up, organizing, and then distributing food to around 200 people. The service provided is quick, efficient, and greatly enjoyed by our learners each month.

The annual Lights On Rice Parade is approaching quickly and taking place on Friday, December 6th. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School has been fortunate to participate in this festive event under the guidance of the Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher in past years. We appreciate the hard work that goes into being part of the parade and look forward to this year’s entry. Please watch for additional details and information about this event in the coming weeks.

Our Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network is always looking for new members so if interested please contact the school and we will cheerfully assist in connecting everyone.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 images, one the left is a large wooden owl statue and on the write is AOK learners playing volleyball in the gym
09 Nov

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we move deeper into the month of November. Mahalo for your support of our unique charter school and we wish to share an example of unconditional giving in our learning community.

Our former Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Board of Directors Chairperson Nicola Sherrill recently stepped away after selflessly volunteering on our Board of Directors for TEN years. Under her governance the school moved from a dream to a reality and would not exist today without her guidance, direction, and support.

Ms. Nicola searched for a gift to leave behind that would enhance the campus after her departure. Her creative eye found an amazing wood carving of a pueo, which is the mascot of the school. She worked with our very own Dr. Jon to refinish this beautiful piece of art which is proudly displayed in our Main Office. Mahalo nui e Ms. Nicola and Mr. Jon for your vision and work on this amazing gift. The pueo wood carving is stunning and fits perfectly with our school but it is definitely in need of a name. We will be holding a “name the mascot” contest later in the school year with more details to come after Winter Break.

As the rainy season approaches we will need to move some of our recesses and Physical Education classes indoors during inclement weather. We greatly appreciate the good work of Ms. Jesica as our Physical Education teacher and we appreciate her efforts to introduce some new sports and activities for our learners.

We salute the contributions of our Veterans and deeply respect their service to our country. We recognize that our freedoms were built on the back of their sacrifice and service. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School will be closed on Monday, November 11th in recognition of Veterans’ Day.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 side-by-side images of AOK learners working on project based learning activity with pumpkins
02 Nov

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and welcome to the fresh new month of November.

Mahalo nui to all who contributed to all the festivities we enjoyed together during the month of October. The Spirit Week Dress Up Days demonstrated great creativity by all the students, staff, and parents who participated. The Middle School Halloween Dance was an outstanding success as the event was greatly attended by most of our Middle School students dressed in a wide array of costumes. The annual Trunk or Treat held last Thursday once again showcased the positive relationships in our learning community, and it was SO MUCH FUN!

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School intentionally connects the students in various grades together to teach socio-emotional learning. All of our Middle School students are assigned to Elementary classes for the Morning Piko and Assembly so they can foster friendly relationships with each other. Our classes are also connected through “Classroom Buddies” where two classes from different grade levels come together for a learning activity. A perfect example of this program can be found in the Wala’au Weekly image  where the Kindergarten class and the Grade Four class participated in a learning activity involving pumpkin seeds.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School wishes to express our gratitude to Mr. Jon and Mr. Adam for their incredible contributions to our school. As we can all imagine, there are always countless items that need to be repaired on campus. We embrace a continuous improvement mindset so Mr. Jon and Mr. Adam are consistantly adding improvements to our campus. They are currently working on the addition of two more banks of lights in the gym and repairs to the roof of the gym to address the leaking rainfall water issues.

Jon and Adam working on a project in the gym

A helpful reminder that Tuesday, November 5th is the Federal holiday of Election Day and there will be no school for students or staff.

Best wishes to you all for a phenomenal November. Malama pono.

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

2 side by side images of the Annual Trunk or Treat event out in the field
24 Oct

Director DJ’s Message

Hau’oli La Heleui to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and we hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we cruise towards Halloween this week.

Mahalo nui kakou for making this school incredibly fun for our learners and working in collaboration with the school to bring entertaining events to our campus. One of the best examples of this positive relationship is our annual Trunk or Treat event, held on Halloween, rain or shine. Once again we warmly welcome everyone in our learning community to participate.

Last year over thirty vehicles joined the festivities. Mr. Jon and Mr. Adam will help vehicles park in a circle on the field anytime after 8:15 am so everyone can get set up early. Our learners will arrive at Trunk or Treat after our daily Morning Piko and Assembly, around 9:00 am and 9:10 am. For health and safety reasons we do ask that all distributed treats are store purchased and individually wrapped. Learners will stop by each vehicle in single file sequential order starting with our keiki in Kindergarten. Trunk or Treat is usually over well before 11:00 am for your planning purposes.

As Halloween tends to be a festive day for keiki on our island, Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School will have an early dismissal to allow everyone to get home early enough for personal activities. Some of our learners have upwards of a 90 minute trip to our campus which speaks highly of their commitment to a high quality education.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

side by side images of AOK learners gathered for Unity Day 2024
18 Oct

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and we hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we enter the back half of October.

We greatly appreciate your support of our unique charter school which features socio-emotional learning as one of the core components of our state of Hawai’i Charter Commission contract. We wish to express our gratitude to Ms. Kate who has stepped into the newly formed role of Socio-Emotional Coach on campus in addition to her halftime duties of teaching Middle School.

Last Wednesday, October 16th was Unity Day in the state of Hawai’i. This annual event is set aside for all of us to stand together in unity against bullying behaviors. We celebrated Unity Day on campus and were thrilled to see so many students, staff, and community members wear orange in support. We wanted the day to be an opportunity to more deeply explore the importance of uniting against bullying. After our Morning Piko the entire school came together in a large circle and pledged to stand together to address this issue in our society. Ms. Kate reinforced the significant impact that we can all have on one another in her Socio-Emotional classes this week. She also introduced a poster and poem contest to ensure that Unity Day will live far beyond a one day school event.

A happy reminder that with Halloween right around the corner also comes our annual Trunk or Treat event. This extremely fun activity will be held on Halloween, Thursday, October 31st on campus, in the field. Last year we had over 30 vehicles participate! As Halloween is an active day on Kaua’i, please plan for early dismissal that day to make sure everyone can complete their fun before dark.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 images of AOK community. left image families attend event in gym with learners. Right, learners and staff outside with mountains as a backdrop.
11 Oct

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and we hope you all enjoyed a fantastic Fall Break. We look forward to our students’ return to campus on Monday, October 14th for a full day of school.

Mahalo nui for your support of our unique charter school which features project-based learning as one of the key cornerstones of our state of Hawai’i Charter Commission contract. In support of this work, we recently hosted two Presentation of Learning events on campus and appreciate the robust turnout of people in attendance. The Grade One class learned about their brain and the importance of keeping it safe and healthy. The students were all given a brand new helmet free of charge to encourage helmet use when riding some methods of self-transportation outside. The Grade Three classes came together and hosted a Presentation of Learning in the gymnasium about communities. They created and built unique communities and then shared their knowledge with a large audience. Great work by all and we appreciate your support of these events.

Project-based learning is a vehicle of education used here at our school to help teach the state standards. Recently the state of Hawai’i Department of Education STRIVE HI results were released which compares schools in the state of Hawai’i in many key measures. We have placed the STRIVE HI results for our school here on our website for easy access.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is outperforming the state of Hawai’i Department of Education in every single measure found in the SRTIVE HI Report. Although we are extremely proud of the work of our learners, staff, and parents in this outstanding result, we still have much work ahead in improving our offering of a high-quality free public education for the keiki of Kaua’i. Accordingly, we are offering additional support in the 2024-2025 school year for learners who are not quite reaching the standards plus the start of programs for those learners above the standards.

We look forward to our continued work together serving the important responsibility of education for our learners.

Best wishes for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

image of 2 AOK learners on the left, smiling in front of a painted mural. On the right, a picture of a large group of learners stage as assembly.
03 Oct

Director DJ’s Message

Ho’omaika’i to all in the learning community as we share this week’s edition celebrating the massive success of the annual Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Jog-A-Thon. Mahalo nui kakou for your generous support of this fun event and we are thrilled to share that this year we set a significant number of benchmarks never before seen at our unique charter school.

This year’s edition of the Jog-A-Thon set a new participation record of over 200 learners actively involved in the event. The event also featured the highest number of staff participants and the most amount of parent volunteers helpfully volunteering to assist on this most active day.

We are very proud of each participant in the Jog-A-Thon. We wish to recognize the top course performers for 2024. Sawyer Kimball and Tate Schuler both ran an amazing ten laps in the ten-minute time limit which required a full-out sprint to accomplish such an incredible feat.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School expresses great gratitude to all of our generous 2024 Jog-A-Thon donors. This year’s event raised a new record of over $24,000 due to your kindness and thoughtfulness. These monies are spent directly on our learners in such areas as supplies for Enrichment classes, buses for Field Trips, and additional financial support for Project-Based Learning.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School wishes to share our appreciation to Mrs. Shay for her leadership in the organizing of the 2024 Jog-A-Thon event and much of these successes are directly related to her efforts.

A happy reminder that we have now reached the end of the first quarter of the 2024-2025 school year. The annual Fall Break will run until Sunday, October 13th. We look forward to the return of our learners to campus for a full day of school on Monday, October 14th.

Best wishes to you all for a happy and healthy holiday filled with food, friends, and fun. Malama pono.

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

2 side-by-side images of AOK learners sitting around tables in classrooms
27 Sep

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and hope this end-of-September message finds you in good health and happiness as we approach Fall Break.

Mahalo nui kakou to everyone who came to campus last Thursday and Friday for our extremely important Individual Learning Plan Meetings. These meetings connect the learner, home, and school together in collective collaboration in the best interest of quality education. Current research clearly indicates that student engagement is a key indicator of that student’s learning to the best of their ability. This forms a key component of the Individual Learning Plan. In addition, the academic benchmarks measured near the end of the first quarter certainly assist the individualization of education programs as we move forward into the 2024-2025 school year. Individual Learning Plan Meetings are another example of what makes our school unique and a touch different from other public schools.

Another area that makes our school unique is embracing project based learning as a vehicle of teaching the state standards. A happy example of this approach was found in Middle School Math where the Grade Six students created board games based on solving math problems. Not only did the students create the board games but they next had an opportunity to play the games with their classmates. This project-based learning activity was creative, educational, challenging, and FUN!

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School wishes to express our gratitude to the good people at the Rotary Club of Poipu Beach for their generous donation of free dictionaries to our Grade Three students again this year. They have made an annual visit to our school for several years now and kindly give this gift of knowledge for each student in Grade Three. We greatly appreciate their support of learning at our school.

The next school-wide assembly will be held on Friday, October 4th starting at 9 am in the gymnasium and all members of our learning community are warmly welcomed to attend. A helpful reminder that this is also the last day of school before the annual Fall Break.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

monday-message-featured-923.jpg
20 Sep

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we sail through September.

Mahalo nui kakou for your support of our annual Jog-A-Thon that was held last Thursday on campus. Our school is fortunate to have such a strong culture of running and the students simply amazed us with their athletic feats. We look forward to both celebrating their success and holding the raffle prize draws at a School-Wide Assembly on Friday, September 27th in the gymnasium. All members of our learning community are welcome to attend to celebrate with us.

We also wish to express our deep gratitude for the generous financial support of the Jog-A-Thon as this event is our major fundraiser of the year. Many people are not aware that charter schools in Hawai’i receive only half of the educational funding that our colleagues in the public schools are given. In addition, charter schools must pay for their facilities and for the transportation of our students which costs Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from our annual budget. As all of our employees are unionized and paid the same wages as the Hawai’i Department of Education, it does become extremely important for us to host the annual Jog-A-Thon to be able to continue to offer high-quality FREE public education.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School shared our appreciation of the work of Mrs. Shay in spearheading the annual Jog-A-Thon. Her countless hours of work behind the scenes certainly made the event smooth and comfortable plus the shirts look AMAZING! Our school also appreciates the numerous parent volunteers who came to campus to help us count the laps for our learners.

We are excited to share that our annual Alaka’i O Kaua’i Ninja Warrior Competition will be this upcoming Thursday, September 26th, and once again learning community members are warmly welcome to attend.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 images side by side, on the left stand 3 horses eating near the AOK school sign and on the right stands a large circle of AOK learners on the grass
11 Sep

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and I hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we pass the midpoint of September.

The great English author A.A. Milne once wrote “The things that make me different are the things that make me.” This clever quote may properly describe our unique charter school which is significantly different than other schools on Kaua’i, in Hawai’i, in the USA, and the world.

The beautiful remote setting that we embrace on campus daily sets a perfect backdrop for both project-based learning and socio-emotional learning. Our students are outside for one hour per day which is scheduled with great purpose to empower them all to learn and practice the socio-emotional curriculum which they are taught. Many of our project-based learning activities are outdoors and connected to the ‘aina through such examples as gardening, beekeeping, and worm farming. We will also find ourselves outside, rain or shine, this Thursday, September 19th for our annual Jog-A-Thon.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is also unique in that we openly encourage and expect that the world off campus is a great teacher. Each classroom attends field trips each year to ensure that our learners have a broad-based education. Recently, our grade six students took a field trip to Hokule’a here on Kaua’i and perpetuated Hawai’ian cultural traditions and values. Mahalo nui kakou for your support of these adventures off our beautiful campus as they tend to be extremely impactful days for our learners.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

*Please note the following photography credit for the image of our learners in this week’s Wala’au Weekly: © 2024 Polynesian Voyaging Society, photographer Michael Wilson. 

2 images of AOK campus side by side. left image 3 learners playing on slide, right image, group of learners and teacher outside together. AOK logo in white font in upper right corner.
05 Sep

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and we hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we step a little deeper into September.

Mahalo for your patience in our search to find a top-notch Physical Education instructor for the 2024-2025 school year. As you may recall, the multi-talented Kumu Nouveau moved to the position of Vice Principal this year which created a vacancy in the school.

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is thrilled to introduce Ms. Jesica Matsuoka as our new Gym teacher and she started on campus last week. Ms. Jesica is an experienced and successful Substitute Teacher on Kaua’i and knows the culture here well as she has keiki enrolled at our school. A warm welcome to Ms. Jesica and we are excited to have you teach our learners.

Speaking of learners, Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School will have our staff role model lifelong learning for our keiki on Monday, September 9th. This day is set aside by the Hawai’i State Teachers Association (HSTA) as a professional learning day so there will be no school for our students. Our staff will be examining data from previous years and then start working on curriculum mapping, project-based learning activities, and the Response to Intervention (RTI) program.

We wish to share our gratitude to all in our learning community for embracing the importance of playing outside at lunch and recess. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is extremely fortunate to be located in a rural setting with ample space, equipment, and opportunities for our learners to be outdoors in nature. We also wish to share that a key component of the Socio-Emotional Learning curriculum taught in the classroom is practiced by our learners during recess as well.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 images of AOK campus with green trees in both and view of the mountains in the right image.
30 Aug

Director DJ’s Message

Happy Labor Day Long Weekend to all in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and hope this message finds you enjoying some time away from campus. Ho’omaika’i to all the staff and students from our school who participated in the Kaua’i Marathon and Half-Marathon today and took on the challenging course.

Mahalo nui for the smooth start to the 2024-2025 school year. It’s hard to imagine we are already turning the calendar page over to September. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School has now had the benefit of a full month of school and will ask for your kokua in making some minor adjustments to after school pickup. We annually allow for much looser guidelines in the first four weeks as we fully respect that transition into a new school year can be challenging for some people. Let’s now move to our normal routines for the remainder of the school year.

Lower campus houses our Middle School students and we ask that this area be reserved for Middle School pickup only. We know that some people have been parking down below on lower campus and walking up to pick up their keiki but let’s move to use this area for only our Middle School students. This ensures the safety for everyone in our learning community and eases the pickup line transition.

We will also be putting back up the string gate restricting access to upper campus as that area is used for bus pickup only after school. Sadly, we have had some minor incidents in the past with visitors searching for access to the waterfalls that did not drive with the understanding that this is a school ground.

We appreciate your respect of our neighbors as we drive plus pickup/dropoff with aloha. We share Kahili Valley with many others who live in this area and we ask that we all continue to drive with aloha which mirrors the culture of our beautiful island.

Our first school wide Assembly is coming up this Friday, September 6th starting at 9am in the gymnasium and all members of our learning community are warmly welcomed to attend.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

Left image of AOK students running in a field and right image of a poster with a man on it. image on purple background.
22 Aug

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and we hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we head into the fourth week of school.

Mahalo for your support of our unique charter school and understanding of the warm embrace that we all share for Duke Kahanamoku. You may have noticed the sign proudly displayed at the front of the school where we try to live the wise words of Duke Kahanamoku. Last Friday our Grade Seven class held their annual celebration of the life of Duke Kahanamoku and had an opportunity to watch the film Waterman on campus. We hope everyone in our learning community can find some time and space to reflect upon the contributions of this amazing person.

The Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School annual Jog-A-Thon is coming up quickly on Friday, September 20th. This event serves as our biggest fundraiser of the school year and hopefully a big funraiser as well. We are moving towards the production of the Jog-A-Thon shirts and are looking for generous sponsors who may be interested in advertising on the shirts, which are free of charge for all students. If you know of any business that may be interested in this opportunity please have them contact Mrs. Shay.

You may have noticed that the Jog-A-Thon is scheduled much earlier this year as we wanted to avoid the January rain and also give our students more time to enjoy their shirts.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

2 images of AOK students sitting a tables. on the left, students are sitting outside and on the right, students are sitting inside.
15 Aug

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness after the long weekend of Statehood Day.

Mahalo nui for your support of our unique charter school and embracing all aspects of our School Mission Statement. Periodically we will share some aspects of our work showcasing an area of our School Mission Statement so we can continue to be accountable for living the words.

Socio-Emotional Learning is a key cornerstone of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and this school year we committed to hiring a Socio-Emotional Teacher Coach. The search for a quality candidate was short plus sweet as the multi-talented Ms. Kate has stepped into this role for our school. Mahalo nui e Ms. Kate for your leadership, guidance, and expertise in this important component of our school.

A prime example of Socio-Emotional Learning on campus can be found by witnessing Classroom Buddies in action. This program matches various grade-level classes together so the students can share their learning. One of the positive outcomes is that student mentorship grows quickly across the school and relationships are built in new areas.

In our Ambassador Program, we bring students together across grade levels. The Ambassadors are all Middle School students who are assigned to an Elementary class. Every day we start with a Morning Piko followed by the Morning Assembly where the Ambassadors assist with their designated class. The program helps our younger students to be fully engaged in these activities while the Ambassadors must demonstrate positive role modeling for others.

A happy reminder that our learning community is always warmly welcomed to our Morning Piko which occurs right around 8:45 am on Main Campus.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

Image of AOK board member with learners on the left and standing solo on the right
11 Aug

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we move towards the midpoint of August.

Mahalo nui for the extremely smooth start to the 2024-2025 school year. We greatly appreciate your cooperation and collaboration in transitioning back to school, particularly since we have added a full Middle School this year.

It is a bittersweet moment in the history of our unique charter school to fully expand into our state of Hawai’i Charter Contract Mandate while at the same time saying farewell to one of the founding pioneers of the school. We moved from a dream to a reality to the fastest-improving school in the state of Hawai’i all under the skillful leadership of our current Board Chairperson Nicola.

Over ten years ago Ms. Nicola and a group of like-minded visionary people came together to try and open our school. Few people know that the charter approval was denied several times before it was eventually approved. It was the grit and determination of Ms. Nicola and others that made the magic happen. In May 2020 the school received a Notice of Concern from the Hawai’i Charter Commission about the financial stability of the school and once again Ms. Nicola and the Board of Directors came together and solved all the issues. Ever since that point, the school has moved from surviving to thriving. This would not have been possible without the dedication and leadership of Ms. Nicola.

The great American civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Junior once wrote “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Ms. Nicola is great because she deeply cares about the success of the school and has a heart that was generated by love. At the August public Board of Directors meeting Ms. Nicola will be stepping away from the Board of Directors. She has served our learning community for two full terms of six years. Please take time to reflect on her selfless spirit of volunteerism as she dedicated countless hours of her life to our school. We salute Ms. Nicola for her work and know we could not be where we sit today as a highly successful school without her efforts.

Ms. Nicola will continue to be part of our learning community as we move towards the formation of an Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Advisory Board that might include past members of our Board of Directors. If you should see her around our beautiful island, please be sure to share a hug or shaka of appreciation for her leadership.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

Walaau Weekly Featured 5
01 Aug

Director DJ’s Message

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 all in good health and happiness as we conclude the Summer Break.

Mahalo to all those generous people who kindly graced our campus on Saturday, July 27th, for our annual Campus Cleanup event. We were incredibly fortunate to witness our largest turnout of volunteers to date for this annual event to help prepare the campus for the upcoming school. We greatly appreciate the gift of your time in putting some extra special touches on our school for the return of our learners.

We also wish to express our gratitude to everyone who came to campus on Friday, August 2nd, from 10 am to Noon for the annual School Open House. Once again, we were overwhelmed with the amount of supportive ohana who came to campus to visit plus drop off school supplies.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou as we commence the new school year on Monday, August 5th, for our learners. As in our usual practice, the first day of school will be an Early Dismissal Day at 12:30 pm as we fully respect that the first day of school can feel extremely long for our learners, especially those in younger grades.

From that point forward, the regular operating hours of our school will be 8:45 am to 2:45 pm for our learners on Mondays to Thursdays and 8:45 am to 12:30 pm on Fridays.

During the first few weeks of school we do warmly welcome parents to walk their keiki to classes until the routines become more familiar for all. If you choose to do so, then please park your vehicle in an area away from the entrance to the Main Campus, as that area is used by the buses.

Best wishes for a stellar start to the 2024-2025 school year. Malama pono.

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

Walaau Weekly Featured 4
24 Jul

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community. We hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we wind down the Summer Break.

Mahalo nui kakou to all who showed up and helped out at the annual Campus Clean-up on Saturday. Once again, we enjoyed a massive turnout of engaged volunteers who effectively assisted in setting up the classrooms and campus for the upcoming school year. Please accept this message of great gratitude for the gift of your time in improving our unique charter school.

One of the areas that not all of our visitors might have had the good fortune to see on Saturday is the recently renovated Art Room that has become the Grade Eight homeroom for the 2024-2025 school year. The room recently had new carpet installed, a new whiteboard added, and a smart television screen that will be used as a pilot project. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is examining a model of moving away from classroom projectors and into smart television technology as an interactive board. This experiment was used successfully at a colleague charter school in Colorado, so we are going to try out this pilot project in the Grade Eight homeroom.

As we enter into our seventh year of operations it is important to recognize those dedicated individuals who have served Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School since our opening. One of those talented people is Brian Cuda, who expertly looks after much of the programming that helps us communicate with our learning community. Brian looks after the school website and has made supportive changes on a monthly basis to make the experience much more user-friendly. Brian helpfully tends to all of our requests and we continue to see more and more important information become available by accessing the website. This very Wala’au Weekly message is also another area in Brian’s portfolio of service to our learning community, and we greatly appreciate his work in supporting our school.

This is a helpful reminder that the annual School Open House will be held on Friday, August 2nd, from 10 am to Noon. It is a perfect opportunity for everyone to come to campus to meet the staff and drop off school supplies for the upcoming school year.

The first day for students will be Monday, August 5th. In alignment with our normal procedures, the first day is an early dismissal day at 12:30 p.m. We understand that the return to school can be difficult, especially for our younger learners, so a shorter first day can be beneficial for them.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

Walaau Weekly Featured 3
18 Jul

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and we hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness as we move into the second half of the month of July.

Mahalo for your support of our unique charter school that features a remote rural campus nestled in a beautiful valley that enjoys an abundance of rain. Perfect place of a school and a perfect place for a school to have a garden.

Over the last several years, we have been fortunate to see several gardens get started on campus under the watchful leadership of our dedicated staff. We are amazed at the curiosity and work ethic of our learners as they take great pride in the plants that they grow, We currently have gardens that are maintained by our students in Kindergarten, Grade One, and Grade Two as you can see form this week’s photos. We do hope to expand the current garden beds so additional classes may participate and share in the importance of growing our own food.

We do wish to express our gratitude to those diligent staff members who helped look after the gardens during the summer break while our students were away.

We will be welcoming everyone for our annual Campus Cleanup on Saturday, July 27th with shifts at 8am to 9:30am and 9:30am to 11am. We look forward to seeing you on campus for this collaborative event which will give you an opportunity to check out the gardens on campus for yourself.

A helpful reminder that the first day of school for our students will be Monday, August 5th and we are excited to see our learners and hear all about their amazing summer break away from campus.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

Walaau Weekly Featured 2
11 Jul

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and I hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we move into the middle of July.

Although it is Summer Break for our creative learners and talented 10-month employees, there continues to be a flurry of activity as we prepare for the return of staff at the end of July and our learners at the beginning of August.

We all appreciate the excellent service that Ms. Malissa brings to our campus as our School Counselor and the positive impact she has on us all. Ms. Malissa spent some time this summer on campus reimagining our Learning Commons so the space would become much more user-friendly for our students. Check out the improved use of the area, complete with the ability of our learners to have even greater access to the books there. Great work, Ms. Malissa!

Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is thrilled to be in full expansion of our Charter Contract by adding Grade Eight ot our school in 2024-2025. Our Grade Eight Homeroom teachers, Ms. Brett and Ms. Kate, have selflessly volunteered several days of their Summer Break to come to campus and work on the converted Art Room into a Grade Eight classroom. This week, you can see the amazing transformation of this space due to the efforts of Dr. Jon and Mr. Adam, who are fully supported by Dr. Jon.

This is a happy reminder that you can come to the school and help out on our annual Campus Cleanup Day, scheduled for Saturday, July 27th. A Signup Genius invitation will be coming soon, with sessions from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

Walaau Weekly
03 Jul

Director DJ’s Message

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and welcome to the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The school financial year commences on July 1st. With the fresh year comes the Wala’au Weekly, which is a name change of the weekly message to align more with our School Mission Statement.

On campus, the work continues in preparation for the return of our ten-month employees at the end of July and our learners at the beginning of August. This week, we are highlighting the outstanding work of “Dr.” Jon and Mr. Adam, who, under the curious eye of Board of Directors member Kumu Chris Town, are installing the new air conditioning units. You may recall that the generous people at the Pure Good Foundation did donate air conditioning units so all of the classrooms could be properly cooled, but this kind of gift did need proper installation far past the May 14th they helped on campus. Dr. Jon (who is a certified General Contractor with numerous skills) and Mr. Adam have been working on all the electrical connections needed for each and every unit. The positive end result has been cooling comfort for our campus when everyone returns soon.

The ever energetic Ms. Barb loves to paint and leave improvements wherever she goes. She has been busy do touch up paint around the school and last week focussed on the loft area of the Grade Five classroom. The ever improving school looks better and performs better each year due to the efforts of these people and many others behind the scenes. We salute their efforts and will continue to share photos of campus improvement each week.

Speaking of campus improvement please mark your calendars for Saturday, July 27th for the annual Campus Cleanup activity. There will be two shifts from 8am to 9:30am and 9:30am to 11am so everyone can still enjoy the Koloa Days Parade. A SignUp Genius will be distributed in the coming weeks so you can come and help out if you wish.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

monday message featured 25
26 Jun

Director DJ’s Message:

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and I hope this message finds you all enjoying a restful, relaxing, and reinvigorating summer break away from the daily routines of school.

Although there are currently no students on campus during the summer, there is definitely lots of action happening. The hard-working American businessman Steve Jobs might have described this work through his wise words: “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” We are fortunate enough to have countless people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world who work at the school…….and they are.

Our incoming Grade Eight teachers, Ms. Kate and Ms. Brett have unconditionally volunteered their time and energy to change the old Art Room on the lower campus into the Grade Eight classroom. Despite it being only June, you can see from the photo that the room is already in the midst of transformation under their steady work supported by the talents of Dr. Jon and Mr. Adam. Meanwhile, the plans for the soon-to-be-constructed new building that will house both Art and ‘Ike Hawai’i starting next year are currently being processed by the County of Kaua’i, awaiting permit approval. The building will be located mid-campus, allowing easy access for our learners from both the main campus and the lower campus, as this building will serve all the students in our school. We wish to express our gratitude to former Vice Chairperson Rafael and our Dr. Jon for their work in creating the design for this important addition to our school.

We also wish to signal a change in the Monday Message that finds your way each week. As we head into 2024-2025 it might be important to continue to examine our Mission Statement to try and find ways to more closely align the statement to practice. We will be changing the Monday Message name to Wala’au Weekly to embrace perpetuating Hawai’ian cultural traditions, values, and language. There is no need on your end for any adjustments but we wanted to let you know in advance of this change of name.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

monday message
19 Jun

Director DJ’s Message:

Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community. We hope this message finds you all enjoying some happy times together during the Summer Break. We definitely miss the learners on campus and look forward to their return on Monday, August 5th.

The great American civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Junior once wrote, “Unconditional love will have the final word in reality.” I think the brilliant words of Dr. King Jr. do capture the unconditional love and support of our school from Rafael Tapia. We will sadly see Rafael Tapia step away from his duties as Vice Chairperson of our Board of Directors after six transformative years at our school. We greatly appreciate his contributions to Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School.

Rafael and his ohana jumped in and started with the school when we first opened, as you can see from their contributions to our first-ever campus cleanup. Despite all the challenges, obstacles, and issues that come with the opening of a brand new school, Rafael stepped forward with great guidance, vision, and governance at the Board of Directors level to assist with the continuous improvement of our school. Rafael was a key supporter of our work in presenting to the state of Hawai’i Charter Commission, where we received our five-year charter renewal and full expansion up to Grade Eight. Most recently, Rafael happily shared his knowledge, background, and creativity in helping to design the two new buildings that will be constructed on our campus to house both Art and ‘Ike Hawai’i classes going into our bright future. Nobody who enjoyed the Grade Six Koke’e Overnight Trip in 2023 will ever forget Rafael’s boundless energy and enthusiasm. These are just a few examples of the countless unconditional acts of love that Rafael gave to Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School.

Mahalo nui loa e Rafael and both you and your ohana will be deeply missed in our learning community. We extend great gratitude for your contributions to Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and send warm aloha for continued success in your adventures off-island in the next few years.

At his last Board of Directors Meeting on Monday, Rafael shared some poignant words of wisdom for all in attendance as his parting gift to us. We wish to express our appreciation to Bob Wu, who has graciously agreed to step into the Vice Chairperson position with Rafael moving on.

Best wishes to you all for a continued splendid Summer Break. Malama pono.

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

monday message
12 Jun

Director DJ’s Message:

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 all enjoying your summer break away from the daily routines of being at school. The happy faces and cheerful voices are missed on campus and we look forward to early August when we are all back together in beautiful Kahili Valley.

Mahalo nui e Sean who came to campus this week to help our school transition over all the electronic devices we have on campus over to a new platform. Sean and the dedicated 12 month employees spent many many many (you get the idea) hours working on the hundreds of electronic devices last week and were able to successfully get everything set up for the 2024-2025 school year. We wish to recognize your generosity in supporting our Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network as we have all worked prudently over the last four years to move our school to one to one devices for our learners.

Mahalo nui kakou for your patience as we worked on building the school leadership team for 2024-2025 school year. Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School is thrilled to share the hiring of two top quality individuals to act as the Vice Principals to support our learning community. Kumu Nouveau is well known to everyone as he worked at our school last year in the dual role of Physical Education teacher and Ike Hawai’i teacher. Kumu Nouveau has extensive experience teaching in the Hawai’i Department of Education schools before joining our staff and has served previously as a Vice Principal on island. Geordan Kanelopoulos is also well known for his excellent work in the Hawai’i Department of Education as both a quality educator and school administrator. Geordan served as the Vice Principal at Waimea Canyon Middle School and brings a great deal of fresh knowledge and experience to our expanding charter school.

It is inspiring to spend time with two such enthusiastic administrators and looking forward to working with them both for the 2024-2025 school year in my continued role as Po’okumu. As you may recall it will be my joyful privilege to serve our learning community until June 2nd, 2025 which will give our dedicated Board of Directors ample time to search for your next Director.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

monday message featured
05 Jun

Director DJ’s Message:

Aloha mai kakou to the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and hope this message finds you all in good health and happiness at the start of the summer break away from the daily routines of school. Although the school year has concluded for the learners and much of the staff, the work to prepare for 2024-2025 has already started in great earnest.

“Dr.” Jon (he definitely has a PhD in Fixology) is putting great time, attention, and precision into installing the air conditioning units that were started back on May 14th with the Pure Good Foundation visit to our campus. We are pleased to share that all of the classrooms will finally have air conditioning installed to start the 2024-2025 school year which is greatly appreciated during the hot months on campus. This amazing upgrade will be in all classrooms, including the expansion all the way up to Grade Eight, which will commence in the 2024-2025 school year.

The beautiful gardens on campus continue to thrive long after the students who planted them head off for summer vacation. We greatly appreciate all the 12-month staff members and the volunteers who devote their time and care to looking after all the plants on campus.

We are excited to have a six-member team on campus next week to look after all the electronic devices and get them ready for our students to return in August. Due to the efforts of our supportive Na Hoa O Alaka’i Parent Teacher Network, we were able to achieve one-to-one electronic devices for the first time in the history of the school during the 2023-2024 school year. We are now ordering more devices as our school population approaches our maximum capacity of 250 students as set our in our state of Hawai’i Charter Contract.

The finishing touches for the Hoike condensed video were not quite ready for this week’s message, but we do have the entire event captured here by accessing this link if you are interested.

Mahalo for your support of our unique charter school and best wishes for a wonderful week ahead. Malama pono.

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

monday message featured
29 May

Director DJ’s Message:

Aloha mai kakou to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School. I hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we conclude the 2023-2024 school year. Sadly, we concluded our on-campus time together last Thursday, and we will miss the joyous sounds of our learners on campus during July and August.

We greatly appreciate the gift of your time as we hosted several events to conclude the school year. The Hoike event was our culminating project-based learning activity, and every student was involved in every classroom at our unique charter school. We greatly appreciate the leadership of Ms. Kate, Kumu Noe, and Kumu Nouveau in helping guide our dedicated staff with this massive project. The stars of the show (as it should be) were our talented learners who clearly shared their learning from the project with all. We hired a professional company from O’ahu to capture the event and hope to share it with you in the coming weeks. Several of the photos for this message came from them.

We also celebrated our fourth annual Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Talent Show on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. We immensely enjoyed the amazing skills, talents, and creativity of the performers who delighted us during the event. We also appreciate that supportive parents are the backbone that helps our students find the courage and fortitude to step up on a stage in front of hundreds of people.

Mahalo nui kakou to our selfless Board of Directors for the countless hours they invested in the search for the incoming Po’okumu. The Board of Directors commenced the search in mid-February and vetted close to 100 candidates for the position. After narrowing the search to the specific needs of our unique charter school, the Board of Directors then spent four different evening sessions in face-to-face interviews with candidates. We greatly appreciate their diligence and strong governance to ensure continued high-quality education at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, especially with the extra hours invested in this months-long journey.

At our Memorial Day Board of Directors special meeting last Monday we closely examined our process and current reality of hiring a new Director with only a week of school left in the 2023-2024 school year. After lengthy discussions about potential alternatives that would best support our school the Board of Directors did come forward with a proposal that we have all agreed in the best interest of our keiki.

It will be my honor to continue to serve our learning community as the Po’okumu again for the full 2024-2025 school year. The Board of Directors will reopen the Director position in January and hire a Hire Resources company to conduct a national search for candidates. In addition, our school will be hiring two vice principals to create greater internal leadership capacity and ensure that the culture of our school remains uncompromised. We will be announcing the incoming Vice Principal individuals in the coming weeks as we finalize the contractual Union contracts. We appreciate your patience as the Board of Directors diligently searched for a new Director, and it will be a privilege to serve the learning community for an additional six months longer than expected.

Please mark your calendars for Saturday, July 27th which will be our annual Campus Cleanup Day where our learning community comes together in collaboration to kick off the 2024-2025 school year.

Best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy, and restful summer. Looking forward to hearing all the incredible adventures that everyone enjoyed when we get back together for first day of school on Monday, August 5th. Malama pono.

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