Our son just graduated from Hanalani Schools (attended grades 5-12) and I am proud that he graduated from one of the best schools around! I am a product of both a public as well as a private school graduate myself (Kamehameha) as was my son. He went to a local public school in Mililani but the quality of the education degraded to the point of his school teacher teaching him how to spell the word "cool" with a "K", that was unacceptable and frightening, and that was just the tip of the iceberg! I switched him over to Hanalani after they accepted him (and with a letter of recommendation from his school teachers - thank goodness I didn't burn bridges at that bad school). I wanted to try my son out for Kamehameha Schools when he was in the 9th grade because I wanted him to go to the school that I attended, but he told me he loved Hanalani so much, that if I took him to the interview, that he would purposefully sabotage it! I'm glad now that he remained at Hanalani because as much as I am fond of my alma mater, I haven't felt so strongly about a school as I do about Hanalani (Heaven's Work).
What we LOVE about Hanalani:
- small class sizes
- nurturing environment
- AMAZING athletic department, for such a small school this school has a definite footprint amongst the likes of Iolani, Kamehameha, Damien and Punahou. Thank you to Coach Jeremy for nurturing our son for many years of discus and shot put! We will miss Coach Jeremy very very much.
- amazing core values, a lot of it missing in today's society: honor your parents, honor your teachers, honor God above all else. Thank your military for all their sacrifices, pledge allegiance to the flag and the United States of America.
- They are religious but do not force it upon you, that is a myth, whatever you heard out there, and because of this, I am even more amenable to Christianity. I am proud to have had my son steeped in good Christian values and it's rubbed off on us heathens.
- Great teachers, great communications via email, MySchool app. You are never in the dark about your child's grades or how they are doing. You have instant access to teachers via email/MySchool.
- A bargain, compared to other private school education prices.
- Transportation is above and beyond! One of my son's friends lives way out in the valleys of Waianae and Hanalani will drive to come get him and take him home, and this is an option! Even you have to pay, there are not many private schools that will do this, or go out of their way to go where they go.
- Amazing STEAM education, cutting-edge! My son took robotics and participated in Cyber Patriots among other things. There are solid AP courses that will boost your kid through their collegiate years.
- 100% college acceptance rate. Our son's graduating class had about 5 million dollars in scholarships for 50 students.
- they teach traditional values and traditional math, forget the "new" math, sheesh.
- they teach cursive handwriting!!! I had to teach my son that before he got to Hanalani because no public school will teach that anymore! How are kids supposed to sign documents, checks? I am so glad I took the extra time fighting with him and teaching him on my own because no public school will teach this!
- very close knit school that feels like FAMILY. You will never get this anywhere else. Head of School Mr. Sugimoto is a solid rock and foundation and to him we are very thankful.
- 70 years in business, and any business older than me gets a 5-star for just surviving the economic conditions in the state of Hawaii!
On graduation night, some of the alumni came by to give each and every student a lei, and I have a feelings it's because of the ties they have to this very special school. Even if they didn't know my son personally, they came by with leis and congratulated my son, how many schools do this? None that I know!
My son was devastated the day after he graduated, I can't even tell you how sad he was; he was very sad he was not going to see his Coach, his teachers, his classmates again, and that's very telling. I feel the same way. I don't want to cut the cord because I feel such a strong community tie to this school. I am even contemplating on volunteering when I retire.
The negative reviews of this school list trivial things, and not things of value but that's just my opinion. I've never felt so strongly about a school until my son graduated and I saw the fruits of our hard work unfurl and our son graduated, and now facing his whole future for the rest of his life...and on this note, I'd like to thank Hanalani for instilling in our son all the tools he needs to go forward to the next chapter of his life. read more