The purpose of Intent to Enroll is to inform Namahana School staff of how many students are considering enrolling in the 2025-2026 school year for 7th and 8th grades.

Hope to see you there!

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…

Our friends at Avalon Gastropub in Kīlauea are generously hosting a dinner on July 27th, with proceeds benefiting Namahana School. The evening will feature a four-course dinner, delectable cocktail pairings, and incredible company. 

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 hope to see lots of the North Shore community on Sunday, August 4th at our site across from the Kīlauea post office! Join us in pule to bless our land, hear the latest updates, and experience signature elements of our school model. 

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

Here, a few more of your pressing questions answered. If you have a question of your own, we would love to chat with you.

Check out the latest issue of Midweek for an article about Namahana School, penned by Jessica Kauʻi Fu, Chair of the Namahana Educational Foundation…

Namahana School, a new public charter middle and high school coming up in Kilauea, hosted about 200 people from the community on Sunday at the Porter Pavilion in Anaina Hou Community Park.

The excitement was palpable at Anaina Hou’s Porter Pavilion in Kīlauea, where approximately 200 North Shore residents gathered on April 28 to learn about Namahana School’s rapidly approaching opening in fall 2025. This was the latest in a series of public gatherings dating back to the 2019 community-wide engagement process that solidified the public charter school’s mission, vision and values. For many of the families in attendance, the project has been years in the making, and the event’s atmosphere was one of joyful anticipation and readiness to support.

Team Namahana will share some exciting updates on the school model, how you can support, recruitment, intent to enroll and our Phase I Facilities plan. This is an event you won’t want to miss! Register for the event ahead of time to skip the line. First 100 people to register will receive a free meal ticket. Food and beverage will also be available for purchase.

‘Āina-Based Learning Takes Root in Kīlauea: Along Kaua‘i’s north shore, a sense of community runs deep. However, for Dr. Kapua Chandler, upholding a connection to the people, places and history of her ancestral home holds an even more profound significance. For the past eight years, she’s tirelessly worked to bring the first public charter middle and high school, Namahana, to her community. Through an ‘āina-based curriculum, students will receive a dynamic education that strengthens their relationships with land and community when the school opens its doors in 2025.

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.  

The Kaua‘i County Planning Commission unanimously approved the Namahana School Special Use Permit application at its Tuesday, Dec. 12, meeting.

On Dec. 12, Līhue Civic Center echoed with the voices of North Shore community members expressing their support for Namahana School’s Special Use Permit (SUP) application. The SUP, which was approved by a unanimous vote of the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission, grants permission for the school to develop its campus on 11.3 acres of agriculturally-zoned land adjacent to Kīlauea Town.

In this conversation with G70 President Charles Kaneshiro, we take a deeper look at the process that led to Namahana’s campus design – including the challenges and opportunities of designing a school with no local models to emulate.

Watch the short feature from KITV sharing the news that Kauai Planning Commission approves special zoning permit for new school.

We recently spoke with Namahana School Leader Dr. Kapua Chandler and Big Picture Learning Co-Founder Elliot Washor – two leaders on the frontiers of educational innovation. The eye-opening conversation helped to clarify key concepts that are central to Namahana’s vision and values, such as the advisory structure and ‘āina-based learning, as well as how the international Big Picture Learning network helps to guide Namahana’s educational model.

It’s official! Namahana owns the 11.3 acre parcel across from the post office in Kīlauea and is now in the Special Use Permit application process. To prepare for a Fall 2025 opening of 7th and 8th grades, we are now entering Phase I and will be raising funds to build temporary facilities to house our first cohort of students. Head over to our website to see our site plans for Phase I.