Chan, Zuckerberg Support Namahana School with Over $1.5 Million in Cash and Facilities for Fledgling Kaua‘i Charter School
Kīlauea, Hawai‘i – 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.
Currently, North Shore Kaua‘i families must shoulder commutes of up to three hours per day, often by bus, to Kapa‘a or beyond. Often compounded by rush-hour traffic and road closures due to extreme weather or infrastructure repairs, these commutes can interfere with children’s personal and academic wellbeing. Given these barriers, many have come together to support this new facility for North Shore families.
The school is currently in the initial phase of an ambitious campus buildout on 11.3 acres of land it purchased outright with widespread community support last year. Recent donations push Namahana School’s pre-opening fundraising total to $6 million, including $5.3 million toward a $10 million capital campaign to construct the middle school. While more common in the world of private school fundraising, these numbers are almost unheard of among Hawai‘i startup charter schools – many of which struggle to meet basic facility needs and often operate for years in tents, churches and other temporary structures.
“We are impressed with the remarkable level of community support Namahana School has garnered over the years,” said Chan. “We are proud to contribute to this effort to give Kaua‘i’s North Shore the tuition-free, public middle and high school that its children and families deserve,” said Chan. Chan and Zuckerberg support a broad cross-section of community organizations on Kaua‘i.
“This gift is a powerful vote of confidence for our startup enterprise, because it demonstrates that Namahana’s mission is compelling enough to resonate with philanthropists and visionaries at this scale,” said Namahana Education Foundation Executive Director Melanie Parker. “While we can’t move this project forward without the full support of our local community, we also believe that Namahana’s aspirations are global in reach. Because of Priscilla’s experience in education, she understands the complexity and responsibility of such an undertaking and we are deeply grateful to her and Mark for believing in Namahana’s potential.”
Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician and Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), founded The Primary School in East Palo Alto in 2016, which serves children in preschool through middle school. Since its launch in 2015, CZI has made over 1,000 grants to educational initiatives across the nation, with an emphasis on research and tools that embrace the “whole child” approach that is similarly central to Namahana’s Ola learning framework.
“All educators share the desire to unlock the true potential of each child. When we stop to reflect on what makes that potential come alive, it’s the full range of experiences that they’re exposed to – beyond textbook learning inside classrooms, it is also the strength of their relationships to self, community and place,” said Namahana School Leader Kapua Chandler. “We’ve intentionally designed a learning experience at Namahana that honors this scope, and it’s such an honor for Priscilla and Mark to affirm that vision through this generous gift.”
