We Are Expanding

There are lots of exciting changes underway at Alaka’i O Kaua’i, including expansion into new parts of our campus, adding: a new health room, staff lunch room, learner  work room, and meeting room. We are also in the process of renovating our enormous gym, which will hopefully be ready for use by the end ofRead more

Preventing and Treating Ukus

Last week, we sent home an informational article: Preventing and Treating Ukus. This article was sent out due to a few incidents we’ve had at school regarding ukus (head lice). We contacted the Department of Education District Office (Kaua’i), and found out that this problem is prevalent in all schools, especially elementary schools, since childrenRead more

Friends of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Library

A HUGE THANK YOU to our group of parent volunteers helping organize our library! We are very thankful for all your hard work and dedication: Chad Long, Summer Dillberg, Amber Martinez, Taitai Ka’uhini, Leia Makanole, and Bonita Garma. NOTE: We are not accepting more library book donations at this time. Please hold tight if youRead more

Enrollment for School Year 2019-2020

This Friday, January 25th, all of our families will receive Intent to Re-Enroll forms as well as copies of our new school application. Please return these forms to us no later than Monday, February 4th, if you want to secure your child(ren’s) seat(s) for the coming school year.  **All of our current students and their siblingsRead more

Attendance

We recently sent letters to every family regarding learner attendance. Please do not be alarmed if you received a letter concerning your child’s attendance. The purpose of the attendance letter is to bring awareness to the issue and remind parents/guardians that learners need to be at school every day, on time! Feel free to stopRead more

School Quality Survey

On Friday, the “School Quality Survey” form from the Department of Education was sent home with each child. The purpose of this survey is to provide the State Charter School Commission with one indicator of parent satisfaction with Alaka`i O Kaua’i Charter School. Please do your best to complete and return these surveys with yourRead more

A Few Reminders

When driving on our school road, PLEASE DRIVE 15 MPH! Although we are aware that everyone wants to make it to school on time, it is very important that we SLOW DOWN. We share our road with the Mount Kahili community as well as the animals, keiki, and staff who live there. It is understood that 15 mph isRead more

Love and Logic

Discipline with Love and Logic

At Alaka’i O Kaua’i, our school-wide discipline policy is based on the foundational skills of Love and Logic. Love and Logic is a philosophy founded in 1977 by Jim Fay and Foster W. Cline, M.D. It is the approach of choice among leading educators, parents, and other professionals worldwide, as it is dedicated to makingRead more

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree in our front office is to show our appreciation for all the hard work and time our facilitators at Alaka’i O Kaua’i invest with our keiki. In the main office, you will find a Giving Tree with paper ornaments that include teacher’s name and what they may be needing or hoping forRead more

School Photos

Our Photo Retake Day has been rescheduled to Thursday, January 17th. If your child was absent on the previous photo day, or you would like a picture retake, please put this date on your calendar. Order forms will be available at the front desk once we return from Winter Break.

Project Based Learning

School Garden

Our K-7th learners have been hard at work in the school garden this week in preparation for the Presentation of Learning on Dec. 14. Mr. Jon, our wonderful facilities manager, rototilled the soil, added amendments, and created rows so the ground was ready for our learners to plant seeds and plants. In the months toRead more

Library Book Drive

We are actively working to expand our school and classroom libraries. We welcome new or gently used children’s books, ranging in level from kindergarten to middle school, of varying topics and genres. We are especially in need of chapter books. Just drop them in the designated box in the library!

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree in our front office is to show our appreciation for all the hard work and time our facilitators at Alaka’i O Kaua’i invest with our keiki. In the main office, you will find a Giving Tree with paper ornaments that include teacher’s name and what they may be needing or hoping forRead more

School Photos

School photos went home yesterday with our learners. If you ordered photos and did not receive your child’s packet, please let us know. Our Photo Retake Day has been rescheduled to January 17th (It is no longer on 12/12). If your child was absent on the previous photo day, or you would like a pictureRead more

Take a Seat at the Buddy Bench

Our learners love hanging out together at our school’s buddy bench. A buddy bench is a simple idea to eliminate loneliness and foster friendship on the playground. Alaka’i O Kaua’i wants to spread the message of inclusion and kindness! Girl Scout Troop 823 helped make this possible, and we thank them for this generous gift!Read more

Walmart Foundation Grant

Alaka’i recently got a shipment of new iPads and Chromebooks for our keiki, thanks to a Walmart Foundation Grant of $32,500. We are so thankful for this generous gift, which has allowed us to purchase some much-needed technology for our school.

Top Ten Benefits of a Flexible Seating Classroom

Walk into any classroom at Alaka’i O Kaua’i, and you notice something is different. You won’t find learners seated in traditional rows of desks during instruction. Flexible seating helps create a more active, engaged, enthusiastic, and relaxed room of students! This article lists the top ten benefits for incorporating flexible seating into our classrooms.

Welcoming Our New Director

We are pleased to announce that our new director, Frederick Birkett, will be joining us this week. Mr. Birkett comes to us with many years of experience as a charter school leader. Mr. Birkett spent 15 years as a charter school principal in Massachusetts, New York City, and Hawaii. In addition, he has a Master’sRead more

The Importance of Learning Outside

I love to see learning “al fresco,” as I call it, at Alaka’i O Kaua’i. This week, during my “rounds,” I observed a class doing a writers’ workshop outside under the big tree by the playground, another class solving word problems during math with writing outside under the awnings, and several other classes composting, preparingRead more

MAP NWEA Computer Adaptive Testing

Our learners were able to begin MAP testing last week, which will provide valuable information about the skills and concepts they have already mastered and what they are ready to learn next. Alaka’i O Kaua’i partners with MAP NWEA to assess their learners three times a year. MAP, which is an acronym for Measures ofRead more

Heads-Up from the Health Office!

It’s uku (lice) season, and we wanted to share some information from the Hawaii DOE about prevention, identification, and treatment. The school health practice for ukus will include: Inspection by the school health aide of a student who may have ukus; Notification of the parent/guardian that the student has ukus; ​After the parent is notified,Read more

Multicultural Thanksgiving Feast

We will hold our first annual Multicultural Feast on Friday, Nov. 16, at noon. All families are welcome to join us for the festivities. This tradition will be a wonderful way to kick off the Thanksgiving week and allows us to build community and share foods that represent our unique family backgrounds. Sign up hereRead more

Halloween Fun at Alaka’i

We had such a fun Halloween at Alaka’i O Kaua’i. The 5th-grade learners put the finishing touches on the Halloween-O-Grams and personally delivered 171 treats to students and staff. Our costume parade started with Miss Casey’s class, and picked up each subsequent class until the whole school was circling the school. It was wonderful seeingRead more

What is Morning Meeting?

Every morning, our learners gather together for Morning Meeting. It’s an engaging way to start each day, build a strong sense of community, and set children up for success socially and academically. Each morning, students and teachers gather together in a circle for 20-30 minutes and interact with one another during four purposeful components: Greeting:Read more

Multicultural Thanksgiving Feast

We will hold our first annual Multicultural Feast on Friday, Nov. 16, at noon. All families are welcome to join us for the festivities. This tradition will be a wonderful way to kick off the Thanksgiving week and allows us to build community and share foods that represent our unique family backgrounds. Please bring aRead more