Hoaloha Kai Montessori School reflects on its first year, looks ahead to next

KAHALA—East Oahu welcomed a new private school last year, Hoaloha Kai Montessori, which is the first and only Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) credited institution on Oahu that has programs for infants through age 12. In just one short year, the school has doubled in size, both in student body and staff—no small feat during these tough economic times. 

Private school enrollment on Oahu has declined in the last couple of years and many schools have been struggling. In fact, two schools closed earlier this year, unable to make ends meet: Word of Life Academy in Kakaako and Holy Trinity in Kuliouou. In this sense, Hoaloha Kai’s opening will help fill a void in private elementary education on East Oahu left behind by Holy Trinity.

Director Denise Acklin, formerly of Calvary by the Sea Montessori School, had aspirations to expand her vision of Montessori education into the elementary grades for years, and she found her opportunity when the Waldorf high school moved from their Kahala campus to the former TransPacific Hawaii College campus in Aina Haina. 

The Kahala campus offered an excellent, central location, but required a great deal of re-envisioning in order to meet the needs of Hoaloha Kai, Acklin explained. 

While it’s no surprise that starting a brand new school takes an enormous undertaking, it was truly an eye-opening experience for everyone involved with Hoaloha Kai to witness first-hand just what is possible when a community comes together to realize a shared vision. 

Without launching into an in-depth discussion of the Montessori approach to education, which is more an umbrella term for a range of teaching methods rather than one coherent program, it is safe to say that Montessori schooling, in general, seeks to facilitate the individual child’s capacity for learning at his own pace by creating an environment where the child can pursue his various interests in a self-directed manner. 

As such, everything in the Montessori classroom should have a place and purpose in some accordance with founder Maria Montessori’s principles, established roughly 100 years ago. The physical environment at Hoaloha Kai, therefore, was central to its vision for superior educational experience.

Because the space had been a high school campus for many years, it had not been designed with young children in mind. There were dangerous objects and sharp corners everywhere, rendering it unsafe.  On top of that, there was a need for tables, sinks, and toilets of appropriate height, shelving for the many materials that are so central to the curriculum, and a safe, enclosed outdoor play space. 

The site had to be transformed very quickly and on a small budget. It became a labor of love for the staff, the families who were committed to enrolling their children, and the surrounding community.  The result of their combined efforts were several highly “designed” and developmentally appropriate environments that look very different from traditional classrooms.

Hoaloha Kai parent Kris Palaualelo points out: “As a parent you don’t necessarily realize what it is that makes a school, that the very structure itself is so important.” 

Palaualelo reflects on countless weekends of volunteering at the school as a “rare opportunity” to have an active role in creating her child’s school environment. She also acknowledges that her five-year-old daughter Kamaile has a much deeper appreciation for the school, having been involved with its transformation. The students had an active role in the beautification process, creating the outdoor spaces as well as the garden.

When the expansion of the primary classroom was completed, her daughter exclaimed, “This is so beautiful!” By having a sense of ownership over their surroundings, the children are more likely to be respectful of their school environment, Palaualelo says.

Another parent, Lara Spargur, recalls how every single family contributed something valuable to the process and, as a result, the school has “soul.” The “it takes a village” mentality definitely prevailed, with countless donations of time and resources coming from every direction. 

Sherwin Williams donated the interior paint; Bonded Materials Co. provided the paint and materials for the outside courtyard; all of the landscaping was donated by Brownlie and Lee; Lowes donated most of the fencing, which was installed by the Navy Seabees; the UH swim team scrubbed all the walls. Teachers, parents, grandparents, and neighbors spent countless weekday and weekend hours cleaning, building tables, tearing down walls, and painting the campus. They continue to help with the maintenance. 

The public support reinforces Acklin’s belief in the power of community—that when you put out a good idea, the community responds. Acklin, herself, admits that she worked tirelessly, seven-days-a-week, for the entirety of that first year, writing grants and doing whatever was needed. 

Today, Acklin sees the teachers as central to the success of the school and considers her most important role as director as ensuring that they are well supported. Finding the best teachers available, and making sure that they are well paid and able to receive the continuing education that they deserve as professionals is at the heart of her job. 

Acklin has enjoyed a long career at numerous top Montessori schools around the country, yet she believes that her current teachers (all of whom have Master’s degrees) are the “best she has ever worked with” and have displayed a tremendous ability to bring out the potential of every child in their classrooms.

Looking ahead to the future, Acklin expects to grow in two areas: the parent-infant program and the elementary school.

The parent-infant program is currently the only one of its kind on Oahu, bringing the Montessori philosophy down to its most basic level and providing parents with a fresh yet common sense approach to child rearing. 

Despite our best intentions, the reality for most parents is that our fast-paced lives prevent us from taking the time to just observe our babies. Our tendency to multitask in our own lives also tempts us to overstimulate our children, as we fear that without all of the latest developmental toys our child will somehow get behind. 

The idea behind this class, therefore, is to break a certain cycle of thinking, to show that one does not need a lot of money or things to facilitate developmentally appropriate learning, and to provide parents with an opportunity to have uninterrupted time with their child without phones ringing, television, or other distractions. 

To this end, the classroom that is set up for infants from age two months to walking with various stations geared at the different stages of infant development, such as a mat and mobile, or an infant-sized table and chairs and a cup. 

During the one-and-a-half-hour session, parents quietly observe subtleties in infant development, discuss them with the teacher and other parents, and compare various child rearing practices. 

The class currently meets Friday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., but the goal is to expand it to four mornings per week as well as offering a weekly seminar for parents on various topics. 

At the other end of the school’s age range is the elementary school, which goes through sixth grade, where the theme of personal discovery and independent thinking continues.

Nationwide, there has been a movement to increase the number of Montessori elementary schools, because it is here that the foundation so carefully laid during the primary years (ages three to six) comes to fruition. As Acklin describes it, it is the “bow on the package” when children can really blossom into creative problem solvers. 

One way in which Hoaloha Kai differs from “traditional” schooling is its approach to learning various subject areas. Subjects are diverse. Geography, geology, chemistry, physics, biology, history, language, mathematics, geometry, and music are first introduced through a series of “Great Lessons.” These brief, pictorial introductions offer a broad yet concise overview of the subject.  They are about giving students a “big picture” perspective to which they can refer back, rather than teaching a small detail out of context, testing on that concept, and then moving onto another, possibly unrelated detail. 

In other words, “Great Lessons” provide a constant point of reference that allow the specifics of a subject to be understood in a more coherent way. In this way, students not only develop a sincere appreciation of the subject at hand, but they also learn a thought process that they can apply to all areas of their life: Begin with the whole, then explore the details. 

There is also an emphasis on continually combining the academic, creative, and social aspects of learning. Because the elementary class combines a range of age groups that stay together for several years, the children feel at home, develop strong bonds with their teacher and each other, and enjoy constant opportunities for student mentoring and collaboration. 

Children are also challenged to do primary research in their areas of interest and are empowered to arrange their own field trips with a special “going out fund” as well as fundraise for longer off-island trips. 

All of these features relate back to Acklin’s lifelong mission to help children love school and love learning, both of which will lead to happier adult lives. For this reason, she intends to expand the school into the eighth grade.

To learn more about Hoaloha Kai, visit their website at http://www.hoalohakai.com/. 

The school will be hosting a “Journey to Discovery”  on September 17 and 18. This free program is a way for parents to spend quality time with the teachers and materials that are at the center of Montessori education. Reservations are required. The public is also invited to their Open House on October 23 from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Financial assistance for tuition costs is available. For more information, call (808) 735-5165.