Head over to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser website to read an Op-Ed penned by Dr. Kapua Chandler, Namahana’s School Leader. The piece centers on water safety, and how it can and should be considered as a vital part of children’s education.

The stats are clear: drowning is the number one cause of death among children in Hawaiʻi, and among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander children ages 1-17. The percentage of drowning deaths is more than three times higher than that of all other ethnicities in the same age group. The article focuses on how we can address this, and what Namahana School is doing (including last month’s collaborative lessons with the Kauai Lifeguard Association). 

Click here to read the article. For those without Star-Advertiser subscriptions, you can read the article on our website via the button below. 

Mahalo to the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association and the Kauaʻi Ocean Safety Bureau for a comprehensive first aid and water safety training that was built directly into the Namahana School curriculum. Over two days, students were able to work directly with lifeguards and Namahana kumu (teachers), weaving together real world skills with their ongoing education. 

Namahana was deeply honored to receive a $150,000 gift from Matthew Monahan, Brian Monahan, and Catlin Powers of Biome Trust, whose commitment to earth care, self care, and community care beautifully mirrors Namahana’s ʻāina-based model.

The McInerny Foundation recently granted $150,000 to Namahana School. Dispersed over 3 years, it is a big honor to receive a grant of this size from this prestigious Hawaiʻi-based organization. We are extremely thankful to the North Shore community, who stepped up in many ways to recommend Namahana for this grant.

As Namahana students begin Quarter 2, students, their families, and their kumu came together to create Personal Learning Plans (PLPs) for each student. These meetings are a special time  to come together and reflect on the work and experiences of the prior quarter. 

This month, Namahana School launched ulu ʻāina (field studies)—seven weeks of our students learning in community, one day each week culminating in a Hōʻike (demonstration of learning). This is the foundation we're building for our haumāna to be comfortable learning off-campus regularly, developing the skills and relationships that will serve them when they pursue internships during high school.

A very big mahalo to Jonoven Savage, Tim Cassidy, as well as Scott Parker.  This past weekend, they rolled-up their sleeves and did a ton of landscaping work on our permanent land (just across from the Kīlauea Post Office).  

This month, we are especially grateful for our first entire school-wide field trip to Hoʻākea, an event led and hosted by the Hawaiʻi Department of Education to expand our students' knowledge of waʻa (voyaging canoes).

While in Hanalei, the students studied navigation from kūpuna, learned on the pier with voyagers from across the state, did knot and trust work, assembled waʻa models, and heard moʻolelo about Hōkūleʻa.

We’re proud to announce another milestone: We secured water for Namahana School’s permanent site! 

Though we now own the 11.3 acres that Namahana School will sit on, we needed to apply for water rights with the Department of Water (DOW). Getting the water rights wouldn’t have been possible without the community. We received and presented over 100 letters of support, 96 of which were handwritten letters from Namahana School students. 

For a deep dive into Namahana School, head on over to Kappanonline.org where Namahana School Leader, Dr. Kapua Chandler, was recently published. The essay is a look back at Kapua’s upbringing on Kauaʻi, the educational challenges here on the North Shore, and how those influenced the forming of Namahana School and it’s innovative learning design. 

North Shore Preserve (NSP) has stepped up to support Namahana School! NSP will be taking care of mowing our permanent land for us, resulting in significant monthly cost savings. Additionally, they donated furniture to help fill our classrooms, and overall have been dedicated supporters of advancing Namahana’s mission.  Mahalo to North Shore Preserve for supporting the community!

Mahalo to Johnny Apicella from Pennsylvania who DIY’ed a fundraiser for Namahana School, taking donations for his endurance run. He ran 10 hours straight—over 40 miles—to raise $2,523 for Namahana! We extremely inspired and thankful he chose Namahana to support for his fundraiser!

Mahalo to Island Ace Hardware Princeville for the support at last month’s Round Up Campaign! Throughout the month of August, customers were given the chance to round up their purchases to the next whole dollar, with the change going straight to Namahana School. This year, thanks to ACE, over $1,300 was raised. This is the second year ACE Princeville has supported Namahana School, and we’re grateful to its staff and customers for the support!

Healthy Hut Market and Café in Kīlauea has donated a case of period products to Namahana School. We are grateful for this contribution, which makes a meaningful difference in our students’ daily lives!

We hope to see everyone at ʻOhana Fit Fest on September 27. When you sign up, write “Namahana” for your team name—the more people on our team, the more funds we can raise for Namahana School.  Register to run in the event on 9/27 here.  

Namahana School is participating in Foodland’s annual Give Aloha campaign! For the entire month of September, please support Namahana School every time at check out by using code 79152. You can’t miss the Namahana banner hanging up in the Princeville Foodland. Throughout September, you can participate in Give Aloha at all Foodland, Sack N Save, and Foodland Farms stores statewide. When you donate, Foodland will match any donations up to $249 for Namahana School.

On August 4, Kaua‘i North Shore residents witnessed a cherished community dream come true: the opening of the public, tuition-free, post-primary school for the districts of Koʻolau and Haleleʻa. This achievement by Namahana School capped six years of meticulous planning, including a thorough community engagement process, the charter school application and a continuing intensive fundraising campaign to build a dedicated campus.

Mahalo to media across Hawaiʻi for all their coverage of Namahana’s opening across web and TV. Here, some highlights to check out…

Last week, we ran a unique Instagram campaign: we asked local businesses or influencers to share a post. If 50 did, a very generous donor would gift Namahana $50,000 towards building our permanent middle school classrooms. Thanks to the support of the community, we easily flew by that goal of 50 posts, gained over 167,000 views, and secured the $50,000 match. 

Most of us know that safe, clean drinking water is essential for everyone. Now, thanks to the Rosalyn and Joseph Newman Foundation, the students and staff at Namahana School have access to great water, with their Foundation donating two FloWater systems to the school.