Namahana School Pursues New Site in Kīlauea Town

Property Presents Opportunity for Future Charter School to Own a Permanent Campus

PRESS RELEASE, May 2, 2023: In an extraordinary turn of events, Namahana School has been given the opportunity to purchase a parcel of centrally located land in Kīlauea Town. If able to marshall the necessary funds in time, this property will bring the public charter school closer to the families it will serve on Kaua‘i’s North Shore and ensure a permanent site for future generations of middle- and high-school students.

Namahana School has been rapidly moving through its pre-opening development phase, after conditional charter approval was granted by the Hawai‘i State Public Charter School Commission last year. It plans to welcome its first cohort of students in the fall of 2025. Until now, the school planned to occupy eight acres at Wai Koa Plantation thanks to a generous renewable land license granted by philanthropist Joan Porter. The Wai Koa site remains available as a contingency and Porter, who is one of the school’s founding supporters, has fully endorsed the new plan. 

Namahana Education Foundation Executive Director Melanie Parker explained that the school is pursuing the Kīlauea site because of the many advantages that outright ownership will confer. These include more freedom regarding land and facility use, a streamlined approval and permitting process, and greater access to financing for campus construction.

“We are eternally grateful to Joan Porter and the Kauaʻi North Shore Community Foundation for laying that crucial foundation for Namahana, without which we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today,” said Parker. “We never imagined that an opportunity like this would appear, but because owning our school site is by far the most practical option when establishing an institution meant to last for generations, we are moving mountains in hopes of closing the purchase.” Including financing costs, the total price of the parcel is $2.4 million. The school has secured some financing for nearly half of the cost, but must raise over $1 million in cash by June 9 in order to secure the property. 

“The acquisition of this land will ultimately increase access to public education for our North Shore community, and we will pursue every funding opportunity available in order to successfully build and sustain Namahana School,” said Parker. 

“This site will further strengthen the community-driven pillar of our educational vision,” said Namahana School Leader Dr. Kapua Chandler. “Students from Kīlauea Town will be able to walk and bike to school, and we will be closer to many of the businesses and organizations where our students will have internships. Like Wai Koa Plantation, this site is agriculturally zoned, which directly supports our ‘āina-based learning model.” 

Chandler also clarified that the Kīlauea site would only require minimal adjustments to the ambitious campus design that the school has been developing with Honolulu architectural firm Group 70. At nearly 11.3 acres, it is over three acres larger than the Wai Koa location. And because it is on the future main access road to Kīlauea, which connects directly with Kūhio Hwy, families north of Kīlauea will be able to access the school without driving through town. 

“Additional educational facilities in Kīlauea have been a focus since the early development of the County’s Kīlauea Town Plan in 2000,” said Kaua‘i County Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami. “Having Namahana School occupy this space would fulfill a decades-long community ambition. This is exactly the type of institution that anchors and enriches our island’s unique social fabric, and I hope that others will support their effort as much as I do.”

“Namahana School is evolving to fulfill its promise for the ‘ohana of our North Shore communities, and I believe this remarkable opportunity has appeared in part because we are now ready for it,” said Namahana School Board Member, educator and Kīlauea resident Dr. Mehana Vaughan. “For anyone who knows the fundamental role a school can play in bringing people together, this new site enhances Namahana’s potential to serve as a piko for our community.”

Namahana Education Foundation, the nonprofit organization that oversees fundraising for the school, has launched a campaign to acquire the Kīlauea property and is actively seeking donations to secure the site by the June 9 deadline. “This is the kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we can’t afford to pass up,” said Parker. “Though our timeline is tight, I believe that our community, which has courageously carried the vision for Namahana School forward from its inception, will rally to the cause.”