Aloha to the good people in the learning community of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School, and hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we enter the last week of April.
A change to the school calendar that we wish to share with you is that Thursday, April 29, will be normal school hours. The original plan was to dismiss early on that day to conduct learning assessments, but due to the amount of time already missed in the 2020-2021 school year, we felt it was important to have our learners on campus full-time that day.
We appreciate the steady guidance that our facilitators have provided in project-based learning here on campus. We all understand that campus needs to follow health protocols, so we hope you enjoy these photos of activities on campus. Included are numerous bulletin board displays that share the driving question followed by beautiful work by our keiki. We have all enjoyed watching the journey of the ever-improving outdoor classroom created by the 4th grade class, and last week we shared the beautiful artwork made by the 3rd grade class from beach waste. We wish to acknowledge our supportive PTN for their work with us all to fundraise to support project-based learning. Looking to the future, we are curious (character trait of the month) to see how our school-wide project-based learning activity of DreamUp to Space will unfold to start the 2021-2022 school year.
The great American philosopher William James once wrote, “The greatest use of a life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” The power of this message speaks directly to our amazing facilitator Ms. Casey Zoppa (shown in our featured image). “Ms. Z” has one of the original staff members at Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and has been a constant provider of top-notch education for her keiki. For her efforts inside and outside the classroom plus her leadership in moving the school forward, “Ms. Z” has been nominated as Hawai’i State Teacher of the Year. This comes as a bittersweet announcement, as “Ms. Z” will be spreading her wings off to a new adventure next school year, teaching people in Madagascar. We will miss her ever-energetic and cheerful personality here on campus, but we are joyous to know she will share her talents with others in a new place. All the best in your new adventures next year, Ms. Zoppa!
Mahalo to you all for your support of our unique charter school, and best wishes to you all for a terrific week.
DJ Adams
School Director