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.

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.

Things are happening on our campus site! We’re excited to share that a generous donor has gifted Namahana School nine deluxe trailers. These sustainable, ultramodern mobile facilities will provide valuable office and operational space for Namahana throughout construction and in the years ahead. Stay tuned, as we’ll be sharing additional details this November!

We're honored to officially join the NewSchools Venture Fund InnovativeSchools portfolio! NewSchools bridges the gap between those with capital and those with the courage to put that capital to work on the frontlines of education.

Thank you to all those who supported Namahana and our fellow North Shore nonprofits during North Shore Give week. North Shore Give Week is the opportunity for everyone to learn about the difference that nonprofits make in our community and to express our gratitude by donating to, and volunteering for, these wonderful organizations. Three donors raised $575 for Namahana, mahalo!

Mahalo nui to our friends at Foodland for supporting Namahana School and our keiki! Throughout September, you can participate in Give Aloha at all Foodland, Sack N Save, and Foodland Farms stores statewide.

Last month our friends at Island Ace Hardware helped raise funds for Namahana School, where customers were given the chance to round up their purchases and make a direct donation to the school’s building efforts. $1,300 was raised in the process...

We announced this match pledge very recently, and we’re deeply grateful for the momentum! In just six days, our Namahana community has amplified our story far and wide, helping us surpass 100 donors and raising over $50K of additional donations and pledges in the process. A heartfelt mahalo nui to the incredibly generous Vehr Family Foundation for supporting our vision…

Should you or anyone you know be interested in getting involved, please send an introduction our way. Any donations now will be doubled, thanks to this wonderful match opportunity…

We’re well on our way towards our $1.5 million goal by August. But we still need help to get there…

Namahana Education Foundation (NEF), the nonprofit organization that oversees fundraising for Namahana School, today surpassed a creative fundraising challenge designed to raise $1 million for Namahana School’s pre-opening needs, when $500,000 in community donations were doubled by a generous matching gift from Mike Kaplan and Rose Contreras. This generous funding, as well as the momentum of donors and community members mobilizing across Kaua‘i’s North Shore, supports Namahana School's rapidly approaching opening in 2025. NEF continues to seek capital and community support to accelerate the next phase of the initial campus buildout.  

Congratulations to Namahana School for being awarded $1.01MM over three years from the federal Charter School Programs (CSP) grant program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). This federal grant will support Namahana School's operating expenses. This is a tremendous accomplishment and further supports Namahana’s curriculum and policy development, staffing hiring and training, and community engagement activities.

Melanie Parker, the executive director for the Namahana Education Foundation, was thrilled to receive a match gift of $500,000 in unrestricted funds from Kilauea residents Mike Kaplan and Rose Contreras.

A fundraising effort to secure a permanent campus for Namahana School received a substantial financial boost when anonymous donors committed $420,000 to the endeavor.

An anonymous donor has made a pivotal matching gift to Namahana School to help it obtain a permanent campus in Kīlauea Town.

Donation Will Propel the Effort to Build New Public Charter School on Kaua‘i’s North Shore.