Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 4, 1 April 2013 — At Hālau Kū Māna, hard work is paying off [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

At Hālau Kū Māna, hard work is paying off

By Lisa Asato Hālau Kū Māna charter school is making a habit of achieving its goals. Last year for the first time, the Hawaiian-focused charter school in Makiki achieved its goal of having 100 percent of its graduating seniors go on to college. This year, it achieved what Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi calls "a very big deal." Hālau Kū Māna in March was honored as one of five upper-level schools in the state to exit restructuring - a sanction under the federal No Child Left Behind Act - by meeting annual progress goals for two consecutive years. "Exiting restructuring is not easy. The bigger the school, the more difficult it is to aeeomplish this," Matayoshi said. "Schools that reach this point have successfully hit all performance targets, whieh include higher test scores and increased graduation rates. The Strive HI Awards are a very big deal." These highest achieving schools are: King Intermediate School, Moanalua Middle School and Hālau Kū Māna Public Charter School on O'ahu, and Hilo Intermediate School and Waters of Life Public Charter School on Hawai'i Island. At an awards ceremony at King Intermediate School, Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Matayoshi and

Schools Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe presented eaeh school $100,000 to spend toward school upgrades such as technology infrastructure, musical instruments, and science lab and equipment, among other uses. Two elementary schools, Benjamin Parker and Nānākuli, also exited restructuring and were awarded $50,000 eaeh. In all, 32 schools statewide won awards for high achievement, including placing in the top 5 percent of reading and math growth, with a total of $ 1 million given in awards ranging from $12,500 to $100,000. Some schools got muhiple awards. Hālau Kū Māna vice principal Kawika Mersberg said exiting restructuring, whieh the school had been in since 2004, was "kupaianaha," or "out of this world." Mersberg said the school undertook a slew of changes in recent years, but he attributed the school's improved test scores mainly to "teachers doing our research and finding out what's best in improving scores." According to school officials and teachers, in recent years the school has: » grouped students, in subjects like math and reading, by abilities instead of by grade level » incorporated reading into almost every subject, including hula, whieh the school uses for P.E.

» begun and ended the day with a Scholastic Aptitude Test word of the day » brought in professional tutors » offered math, instead of hula, at the beginning of the school day, when research shows that students are most alert » reduced the number of project-based days to onee weekly from twice weekly to offer more direct instructional time » offered voluntary math camps, whieh have SEE HARD W0RK ON PAGE 17

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Malh teacher Noelani Kamalu, whom pnneipal Mahina Duarte described as "instrumental" in the school's Hawai'i State Assessment strategy, helped eighth-grader Kamaka Patterson navigate pre-algebra calculations, while classmate Rosie McShane practiced combining like terms. - Photos: LisaAsato

HARD W0RK Continued from page 4 attracted 100 percent participation OHA grants have helped the school fund math camps, extra tutors and additional resources for teachers, said Principal Mahina

Duarte. Senior Hope Whitney said she never took the Hawai'i State Assessment test seriously when she first eame to the school in the eighth grade. But under new leadership at the school, she saw that teachers were more motivated, whieh in turn motivated her to try harder.

"As an eighth grader, you really don't know what restructuring is, you're like, I'll just take the test," she said. As a freshman, she began to "feel the heat of restructuring" and what it could mean for the school's future, including possible revocation of its charter. "It really made me want to focus,

so eome my 10th-grade year I tried my hardest. I went to all the math camps . . . and I did way better. I was actually excited that I passed the reading and math." Principal Mahina Duarte, who joined the school in 2010, said that as a charter school Hālau Kū Māna had the ability to lead its own way out of restructuring instead of

having a paid consultant eome in. Teachers, administration, parents and others with strong ties to the school developed a plan to exit restructuring and stuck with it. Duarte said the school already had the talent, desire and mission to be a high-achieving school. "It'sjust we had to eome together and we did that," she said, adding, "That's not a magic formula; it's actually something very basic. It's

about responsibility and commitment when it comes down to it." Regarding the school's decision to decrease the number of days for project-based learning, whieh involves site visits to places like He'eia fishpond to learn science and whieh goes to the heart of the school's philosophy, Duarte said, "It was a compromise we had to make, however we're looking to revise our model so we ean (go

back) to more project- and plaeebased learning."The school, whieh is at capacity for the first time in its ll-year history with 100 students in grades 6 to 12, will be adding fourth- and fifth-grade next school year. (Slots are still available.) A donation of four portables from Kamehameha Schools will help make the expansion possible. "We stabilized to the point where we're in that creative and innovative space again where we ean dream bigger beyond the day-to-day and putting-out-fires mentality, where we ean envision a greater future," Duarte said. Hālau Kū Māna, whose underlying stability in the past several years traces to having a long-term lease for its Makiki campus and a staff that no longer has a high turnover, is already setting its sights on its next goals. "We hope to be accredited next year by WASC," Duarte said, referring to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. "It's a big gold star." ■

It really made me want to focus, so eome my iothgrade year I tried my hardest. I went to all the math camps ... and I did way better. I was actually excited that I passed the reading and math." — Hope Whitney, senior

Students Pineki Sylva, left, Maluhia Moses and Hope Whitney at the school's Makiki eampus. Whitney, a senior, said hearing teachers discuss restructuring "started thatfire within us to help us to pass the test."