Academic Overview

ʻĀina-based learning cultivates students’ connection to and sense of responsibility for their home. It helps them to explore and understand their own identity through exploration of the environment, culture, and history of Hawaiʻi. It offers a dynamic instructional approach in which students explore real-world problems through an ʻāina-conscious lens, which helps them to gain interdisciplinary, systems-level thinking that emphasizes resilience, sustainability, and health.

Learning Through Interests/Internships (LTI) were developed by Big Picture Learning, a pioneer in making workplace learning a center of school programs and curriculum designs. Big Picture Learning found LTI programs to be particularly effective for students who have had limited success in traditional schools. Students gain invaluable real-world experiences through internships and mentorships with community organizations, businesses, and kūpuna (elders, experts).

Each student at Namahana School is part of a small advisory group of 15-20 students that progress as a cohort with the same faculty advisor throughout the two years of middle school and four years of high school. This ensures that each student is always mentored by at least one adult who is committed to their success and helps guide their personal learning, as well as a group of peers who become a close-knit “second family,” often forging relationships that last a lifetime.

With Personal Learning Plans to map academic and personal goals, Namahana students are taught to explore their passions while meeting Hawaiʻi state academic and graduation requirements. Our students know themselves and their specific learning styles, developing the social and emotional intelligence that is fundamental to long-term academic, professional and personal fulfillment.

Applied/Project-Based Learning challenges students to apply academic skills and understanding to real-world problems. Namahana students will work on individual and small group projects, both in and out of the classroom and over extended periods of time, to investigate complex questions and challenges that are relevant to the world beyond school.

In addition to traditional testing, performance-based assessments will offer frequent opportunities for students to demonstrate authentic skills and mastery of specific standards. Such assessments include student portfolios and hōʻike (exhibitions) of individual and group projects, such as service learning, college classes, and internships.