Monday message 08.02.2021

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou to the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and hope this messages finds your ohana enjoying the last few days of summer break in health and happiness.

Where did the time go? Seems like yesterday we were sadly saying good-bye to our learners and now we look forward to joyfully welcoming them back our way on Tuesday, August 3. Over the course of the summer break many improvements were added to campus mahalo to the guidance of Jon with room renovations, painting, and ground drainage improvements.

This excellent work was then enhanced by the generosity of everyone who showed up to assist with the annual Alaka’i O Kaua’i Campus Cleanup held on Saturday, July 24. Over 100 people kindly donated their time and energy to help prepare the school for the return of the staff. Once again many hearts and many hands quickly addressed areas identified for improvement, and we greatly appreciate the gift of your time.

It was wonderful to welcome the staff back to campus on Wednesday, July 28, to commence the 2021-2022 school year. Due to continuing growth in enrollment, we have added to the number of classes offered, with two classes of kindergarten and two classes of 3rd grade. We acknowledge the kind words that many of you have shared on our island about our school, as your endorsement has attracted significant interest in our unique charter school.

To assist everyone to feel comfortable about our school, we will be hosting an Open House on Monday, August 2, from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Please feel free to come to campus with your keiki to meet the staff and drop off school supplies. We will be performing a brief health check when you arrive, so please do use the front entrance to Main Campus. As we are currently in Tier Five guidelines, as outlined by the County of Kaua’i, please do wear your mask indoors on campus but also feel free to remove them when you are in an outdoor space.

Bell times for the 2021-22 school year are the same as last year, with a start time daily at 8:45 AM. Dismissal to head home will also remain the same, with a 2:45 PM dismissal each Monday through Thursday and 12:30 PM each Friday.

Drop-off and pick-up procedures are the same as they were last school year, with a few minor exceptions, while we remain in Tier Five, as outlined by the County of Kaua’i. We will continue to have all drop-off in the mornings on Main Campus right in front of the school so we can quickly perform a health check. After-school pickup will change to kindergarten through 3rd grade at the entrance to Main Campus, 4th-5th grade on the upper campus by the gym, and 6th grade on the lower campus. Siblings are to be picked up at the area that the youngest keiki is assigned to in order to avoid confusion and multiple pick-ups. Please do remain in your car; while outdoors, masks are not required while we are in Tier Five.

Kindergarten drop-off is the lone exception in the mornings until Friday, August 20. Parents and guardians are warmly welcomed to walk their kindergarten keiki to the classrooms to help them transition to school. We would love to open this opportunity to more ohana but must be cautious and respectful of Tier Five guidelines to monitor the overall number of people outdoors on campus.

A happy reminder that our first project-based learning activity will be DreamUp to Space. This school-wide focus will challenge our learners to develop an experiment or activity that could be performed on the International Space Station. We will then be entered into a national pool of entries so our learners have the opportunity to see their project experiment chosen to be performed in space! Our staff was blessed to have Linda Krystek, Kendra Etter, and Nicole Huguenin from Maker Learning Network visit campus to assist us in preparing for this exciting endeavor. It is great to work with a staff who embrace lifelong learning, and we are excited to get this project started.

Mahalo for your support of our school and malama pono.

DJ Adams
Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School Director