Aloha mai kakou to the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community and hope this January message finds you in good health and happiness as we rolled back to campus this week with our learners.

Mahalo nui kakou for your support and assistance in making the transition back to school smooth and seamless last week. We were filled with joy to hear all the stories of student activities over the Winter Break and to see the campus come alive with their energy. We definitely did see many shining examples of RESPECT which is the character trait focus for the month of January.

Tomorrow (Monday, January 15th) is a day aside to remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On this day that campus is closed for all students and staff let’s please all pause and reflect on his remarkable contributions to our society. Dr. King once wisely said “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” When we examine the core values that sit within our charter contract of project based learning plus socio-emotional learning we sincerely hope that Dr. King’s words lives on our campus today. Both project based learning and socio-emotional learning do require all of our creative students to think intensively and critically, and we have seen tremendous outcomes above state standards on performance assessments that indicate we are building both intelligence plus character. We appreciate your support in this journey of quality education that we all walk together.

In our bright future we all realize that our Grade Eight class addition is rapidly approaching in 2024-2025. As the Grade Eight class moves into lower campus it will cause displacement of the Art program. Mahalo nui e Board Vice-Chair Rafael, Mr, Jon, and Mr. Adam for meeting and creating a visionary plan for our bright future. We have included photos from mid-campus where we are planning to build a multi-use facility that will house both the Art and the ‘Ike Hawai’i programs. We are extremely excited about this addition and will share photos as the construction goes forward.

We also see continuous improvement on campus with facilities that connect directly with project based learning. Ho’omaika’i e Ms. Joeanne who successfully acquired a grant to grow food on campus which was quickly followed by the construction of a new garden area for the Kindergarten class. Mahalo nui e Mr. Jon and Mr. Adam for your work in putting this together 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

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