Meet the Kumu
We are thrilled to welcome and introduce our founding Kumu (teachers) for Namahana School. The kumu are very excited about Namahanaʻs innovative school design, have experience and a deep interest in 'āina-based learning, and are passionate about supporting learners and their unique interests.
Here, we introduce Namahana’s kumu for the 2025-26 school year. At Namahana.org we’ve prepared short bios on our faculty & staff page, we invite you to click through to learn more about each.
To prepare for the upcoming school year, this week all of the kumu have been attending teacher training at the temporary Namahana campus. Next week, they are all traveling to Rhode Island together for the annual Big Picture Learning (BPL) Big Bang Conference at The MET (BPL’s flagship school, and also where Ysanel Torres, one of our kumu, graduated from). In addition to celebrating Big Picture Learning’s 30th anniversary, the kumu will be immersing themselves deeply in the school design, receiving mentorship, and team building. Finally, the week before school starts, they’ll be back at our temporary campus on Kauaʻi, integrating all they’ve gathered and preparing to welcome approximately 125 incoming students.
Each kumu has 15-16 students in their ʻohana. To develop pilina and prepare for the school year, every Namahana kumu is currently reaching out to personally visit each of their students’ families off campus.
