Namahana School Within Arm’s Reach of Major Fundraising Goal
Anonymous $1 Million Gift Comes at Pivotal Moment for Campus Construction
Today Namahana School announced a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor couple, catapulting it into the final stretch of a major capital campaign to build middle school facilities on its 11.3-acre site in Kīlauea. With the public charter school’s first cohort of seventh and eighth graders already enrolled for the 2025-2026 academic year and campus construction slated to begin as soon as permits finalize, the seven-figure donation pushes Namahana’s fundraising progress to $7.5 million, or three-quarters of the $10 million goal needed to complete its middle school. Given that Namahana’s leadership only began to fundraise for campus construction in 2022, this is a Herculean accomplishment for a start-up charter school in a rural neighbor island community.
“Once again, we are honored and humbled by the insightful generosity of our donors,” said Namahana Education Foundation Melanie Parker. “This gift speaks volumes about the growing commitment within our philanthropic community, which has been paying close attention to Namahana’s progress and stepping forward to support us at each major milestone of our journey.”
The donor couple was particularly moved by Namahana’s Ola Framework, which ties the school’s curricular goals to concrete measures for students’ personal, family and community health. Developed in partnership with international nonprofit Big Picture Learning, the Ola Framework is at the vanguard of a new generation of “whole-child” educational models that incorporate physical, psychological and social-emotional wellbeing, using measurable goals such as healthy relationships, stress management and good eating habits to support children’s success in school and in life.
“This is the type of forward-thinking, student-centered education that our world needs more of,” said the donors, who are part-time North Shore residents. “We are believers in transforming our educational system in order to transform our society, which is increasingly challenged by unhealthy and unsustainable lifestyles. Teaching children to thrive involves giving them a strong foundation of personal habits and self-awareness, and we are confident that Namahana School will do this for children in our community. We can’t wait to see the ripple effects that it will produce around Kaua‘i and beyond.”
Namahana School Leader Dr. Kapua Chandler noted that, “After dedicating several years to developing the Ola Framework alongside our Academic Committee and Big Picture Learning advisors, it fills me with deep gratitude to see our vision recognized by individuals of such remarkable dedication. This extraordinary gift is a powerful validation of our community partnerships, which are the foundation of everything we do. We can only fulfill our kuleana to future generations of North Shore keiki when passionate believers in our mission come forward with this kind of decisive support.”
Namahana Education Foundation is doubling down on its efforts to raise the remaining $2.5 million in its capital campaign by June. The $10 million designated for this initial phase of Namahana’s campus construction encompasses design, permitting, and building costs for Namahana’s grade 7 and 8 essential classrooms. The school aims to break ground later this year in order for the middle school facilities to be ready by fall 2026. For the 2025-2026 school year, classes will be held at the former Kula School campus in Waipakē.
About Namahana School
Namahana School is a tuition-free Hawai‘i public charter middle and high school for the North
Shore communities of Kaua‘i, and the first public post-primary school for the remote rural
communities of Koʻolau and Haleleʻa, which have historically had to commute to Kapa‘a and
beyond after grade 6. It will welcome its first cohort of students in grades 7 and 8 in 2025,
adding a new grade each year until reaching full capacity in 2030. Its educational model,
guided by the international Big Picture Learning network and ‘āina-based learning, emphasizes
cultivating deep connections with students’ communities and natural environment to build
critical skills that can be applied to solving real-world problems.
About Namahana Education Foundation
Namahana Education Foundation (NEF) is an independent nonprofit organization established to
advance Namahana School’s mission. NEF manages the fundraising and construction process
for the school campus, and generates ongoing community support to cover operational costs
not met by the state’s per-student allocation. NEF took over fundraising responsibility for
Namahana School from North Shore Give (formerly Kauai North Shore Community Foundation),
which initiated the Namahana School Project through their Let's Build a School campaign.
Since taking over fundraising, NEF has raised over $8 million in support for Namahana School.
