Aloha to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i learning community and hope this message finds you in good health and happiness. Hopefully Hurricane Douglas decided to leave your family alone, and we were appreciative to have minimal impact on campus.

We did enjoy maximum impact on campus with all the great work selflessly provided on our School Beautification Day, as many hands and many hearts made significant changes. Mahalo to you all who contributed to this successful event, and it was wonderful to see Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School come together again as a community. It is amazing to see what can be accomplished when like-minded individuals come together to make our world a better place.

Last Wednesday we welcomed our dedicated staff back on campus, and we are excited to start our 2020-2021 school year with our learners soon. The facilitators and educational assistants are busy preparing their classrooms, planning curriculum, writing lessons, plus actively engaging in their own professional learning. Full compliments to our staff for their professionalism, flexibility, and adaptability in making the transition back to campus seamless and comfortable.

On Thursday late afternoon, the Hawai’i State Board of Education passed the conditional agreement between the Hawai’i State Teachers Association and the Hawai’i Department of Education, pushing back the start of the school year to Monday, August 17. We fully respect these decisions and understand the concerns raised in pages of testimony plus hours of deliberation. This agreement does have some impact on the start of the 2020-2021 school year for us here at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, as all of our facilitators are members of the Hawai’i State Teachers Association.

Our 2020-2021 school year will still commence on Tuesday, August 4, as promised to our learning community, but we will shift away from the half days model that was originally advertised. We will welcome back our keiki on campus for optional full-day education according to this schedule:

• Tuesday, August 4, and Tuesday, August 11: Grade Four and Grade Six
• Wednesday, August 5, and Wednesday, August 12: Grade One and Grade Three
• Thursday, August 6, and Thursday, August 13: Grade Two and Grade Five
• Friday, August 7, and Friday, August 14: Kindergarten

These full days on campus will be used as Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Orientation Days. We will help our learners understand the new policies, procedures, and protocols that we need to follow to keep everyone safe and healthy. We will utilize this opportunity to perform valuable assessments to determine the current educational level of our keiki, as they have been without face-to-face education since March. We will also have a great chance to practice our drop-off and pick-up procedures. During our Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Orientation Days, our start time for all our learners will be the regular start time of 8:45 AM, but dismissal will be 2:50 PM for everyone. Please remember to bring your lunch and snacks!

We also encourage all of our learners to bring their classroom supplies, including their masks, during the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Orientation Days. The productive use of these days will allow us all to be better prepared to welcome back to campus all our learners for full-day face-to-face education starting on Monday, August 17.

We will also commence our bus service for keiki on Monday, August 17. As the bus service is starting a little later, we will cheerfully prorate the fees for the month of August.

Now that we have had an opportunity to sit together in collaboration to examine the school year, there may be some greater detail for you all regarding new procedures at the school. The Fall Opening Plan and health check procedure are already on the website (see here), but coming soon will be written drop-off and pick-up procedures. We hope to be able to create an easy-to-watch video as well so visual learners can view to discover how the school day will begin and end. Please do check the website for these details.

We also wish to acknowledge the kindness of your patience in accommodating all the changes that have come forth with the opening of school for the 2020-2021 school year. We recognize the issues and challenges these have created for your families, and we are attempting to make the return to campus safe, enjoyable, and positive for all.

Mahalo for your support of our school. Stay safe. Stay strong!

DJ Adams, B.Ed., M.Ed.
School Director