Monday Message – February 15, 2021

Aloha to all the good people in the Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School learning community, and hope this message finds you in good health and happiness as we celebrate Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day weekend.

We had incredible amounts of fun learning on campus again last week. Check out the sheer joy of our 6th graders, under the direction of our Hawai’iana Kumu Chris, learning about safety in riding in a kayak. Ms. C and the 5th graders created a beautiful presentation of their learning about music that is proudly displayed at the entrance to Main Campus. We have been greeted with some majestic sunrises in our valley as the amount of sunlight expands daily, and we are thankful to be able to be on campus with all of our keiki daily.

The thoughtful author Richelle E. Goodrich once wrote, “Imagine the greatness this world would know if kindness were as contagious and enduring as the common cold.” Looking through the lens of our unique charter school, we could humbly suggest that kindness is contagious here in our learning community based on just a few examples from the last week.

Our thoughtful 6th graders decided to promote our February character trait of kindness by organizing and successfully running a Colorful Kindness Day. They purchased prizes on their own and then walked around from class to class during Morning Assembly to distribute prizes throughout the school.

Our dedicated Board of Directors kindly donated upwards of six hours on campus to host our monthly subcommittee meetings, complete with the official “opening” of our new outdoor space for 5th and 6th graders. One of our 6th graders, Emilia, created a Kindness Project to help kupuna in assisted living residences enjoy Valentine’s Day with cards, treats, and entertainment. The 3rd grade class distributed a Kindness Calendar to each of our classes here on campus to build further engagement for all on campus.

All of these meaningful events are connected to each other through kindness, and it is great to see this idea grow outside of the school with Emilia’s project, which supports the notion that kindness is contagious.

We will be opening enrollment to interested people outside of our learning community this week. We currently have an extensive interested list of over 50 new keiki prior to any advertising, so we are encouraging current families that if your learners plan to return, please do let us know. We are examining the potential of running another bus to and from Koloa and a smaller bus here from the west side to assist with transportation. We are extremely early in the planning process, so please be patient and be assured that a quality-over-quantity philosophy is paramount to our school.

Brace yourself: Starting Friday, February 19, we will be implementing a “Friday Phone Out” your way sometime after 4 PM each week as another communication strand to connect us all together.

Mahalo for your support of Alaka’i O Kaua’i Charter School and best wishes to you for a terrific week.

DJ Adams
Alaka’i O Kaua’i Director