Namahana School

The very first public, charter middle & high school on the North Shore of Kauaʻi
Opening Fall 2025

Namahana School will become a piko (center, life source) for our community by nourishing the mind, body and spirit of its youth.

  • icon family

    Students & Families

    Are you or a family member entering 7th or 8th grade in 2025? Find out more about the education model.

    Students
  • icon campus tour

    Campus Tour

    Take a sneak peak of our future campus design.

    Campus Tour
  • icon FAQs

    Enrollment Timelines

    Learn about our enrollment timelines, as well as many of our frequently asked questions here.

    Enrollment Timelines
  • icon give

    Giving

    We invite community members to help support our efforts to build Namahana School.

    Giving

Empowering Our Community
Through Education

As the very first public, tuition-free middle and high school for children on the North Shore of Kauaʻi, Namahana School is poised to address critical community needs in various ways. At a basic level, it will offer our families a geographically accessible post-primary school education, eliminating long commutes that rob children of valuable rest and recreational time. It will also free up opportunities for involvement in after-school and other enrichment, enabling students and parents to be more fully engaged in their education. Partnered with Big Picture Learning, Namahana School’s learning model is a dynamic approach to education in which learners can deepen their relationship with the land and its resources, cultivate connections within their communities, and build critical skills that can be applied to real-world issues and meet the needs of the whole community, from keiki to kūpuna (student to elders).

At-a-Glance

Opening

2025

Grades

7 - 12

Students Total

360​

Students per Grade

60

  • Opening Timeline

    We plan to enroll our first cohort of students in grades 7 and 8 for the 2025-2026 academic year. Each year thereafter, we will add one more grade as existing students move up into high school until all grades are operating at target capacity. Our campus is scheduled to be built in phases to accommodate this staggered enrollment timeline, with both campus and student population complete by the 2029-2030 academic year.

  • Student Population

    Namahana School will serve a total of 360 students from grades 7-12, with approximately 60 students in each grade. We anticipate that our students will come from the geographic areas of Haleleʻa and Koʻolau on the North Shore of Kauaʻi, and that the majority will come from Hanalei Elementary School and Kīlauea Elementary School with some possible enrollment coming from local private and homeschool entities.

  • Curriculum

    As a Hawaiʻi State Public Charter School, Namahana School will ensure that all students meet DOE graduation requirements and state testing standards, while also experiencing a dynamic ʻāina-based curriculum that emphasizes student-driven learning to address real-world problems. We will provide students with the tools for academic, personal and professional success while inspiring them to become future leaders for their communities in Kauaʻi and beyond.

  • Why does our community need Namahana School?

    For decades, North Shore families have dreamed of a public middle and high school where all of our children can continue to be educated with the care they experience at Hanalei and Kīlauea elementary schools. Currently, they must shoulder exhausting commutes of up to three hours per day, often by bus, to Kapaʻa or beyond.

  • How can I enroll my child at Namahana School?

    We will enroll our first cohort of students in 2024, with the goal of welcoming 60 students each in grades 7 and 8 during the 2025-2026 school year. If you are interested in enrolling your child, please sign up for our newsletter so you can receive the first update when enrollment opens. If we have more applicants that available spaces, a lottery will be used to determine enrollment.

  • What is a Hawaiʻi State Public Charter School?

    The Hawaiʻi State Public Charter School Commission defines a charter school as a tuition-free public school operating under a contract with the State Public Charter School Commission. While charter schools must follow federal laws and state standards for public schools, they have flexibility with curriculum, scheduling, and direct management of resources, which allows for innovation. Hawai‘i public charter school teachers are covered by the Hawaiʻi statewide collective bargaining agreement.

  • What grades will Namahana School serve?

    Namahana will serve students in grades 7-12. The school plans to open with grades 7 and 8 and sequentially add grades until we reach full middle/high school capacity.

Latest News and Updates

Featured
Chan, Zuckerberg Support Namahana School with Over $1.5 Million in Cash and Facilities for Fledgling Kaua‘i Charter School
Chan, Zuckerberg Support Namahana School with Over $1.5 Million in Cash and Facilities for Fledgling Kaua‘i Charter School

Although its doors won’t open until fall 2025, Namahana School has already built a remarkable network of philanthropic partners. Today, the public charter middle and high school on Kaua‘i’s North Shore announced that Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, through the Chan Zuckerberg Kauaʻi Community Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, made a cash gift of $750,000 alongside a set of state-of-the-art mobile facilities valued at $800,000.

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The Garden Island Shares Namahana’s Milestones
The Garden Island Shares Namahana’s Milestones

In this article, Dennis Fujimoto highlights the incredible generosity of Chan and Zuckerberg. With this recent gift, our pre-opening fundraising total has reached $6 million, which includes $5.3 million toward our Phase I $10 million capital campaign to build the middle school portion of our campus.

Mahalo TGI for consistently sharing our milestones with the community.

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Listen Now: Interview with Dr. Kapua Chandler, Namahana School Leader, on KKCR
Listen Now: Interview with Dr. Kapua Chandler, Namahana School Leader, on KKCR


Check out this interview with Dr. Kapua Chandler, Namahana School Leader, on Kaua’i Community Radio. Featured on the “Out of the Box” program, the interview is a great dive into the school, from the community engagement that was done to build the curriculum, to the continued efforts by many to build the school as we prepare to welcome our first students next August.


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More of Your Frequently Asked Questions
More of Your Frequently Asked Questions

Whether at our parent meetups or via Instagram, we love receiving questions from the community. Please keep them coming. Here are some answers to our most frequently asked questions.

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Now Hiring: Office Manager
Now Hiring: Office Manager

We are continually updating the Careers page on the Namahana website, and this week we’ve added a new job opening for Office Manager. Under the supervision of the School Leader, the position of the Office Manager is responsible for providing support to the School Leader in all areas of administration.

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“Our vision reflects the spirit and lifestyle of the North Shore of Kauaʻi, which is our inspiration. Namahana School will be a tangible expression of our community’s aspirations, made possible through the community’s full engagement.”

Kapua Chandler

Dr. Kapua Chandler
Namahana School Leader

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