Image: Students at Punahou receive a contemporary, well-rounded education grounded in the history and culture of Hawai‘i.

Island Insights

Independent schools in Hawai'i tackle technology, inclusion, and preparing island learners for a big future

By Christina Lewellen

Like many independent schools throughout the U.S. and around the world, independent schools in Hawai‘i demonstrate deep commitments to their learners and to finding creative ways to meet the increasingly complex demands of their missions. But like the islands on which they operate, there’s a sparkly, colorful, multifaceted aspect to independent schools in Hawai‘i uniquely shaped by the islands’ indigenous cultures, isolated geographic location, and infectious aloha vibe. Their physical campuses seamlessly integrate with the mountainous island terrain in and around Honolulu, and in some cases, these schools have educated students in the same place for so long the city has grown up around them.

“Hawai‘i lends itself well to place-based learning, with many schools taking advantage of its unique geographic characteristics to provide students with hands-on learning opportunities,” said Deanna D’Olier, associate director of the Hawai‘i Association of Independent Schools (HAIS), an organization representing more than 100 independent schools, all located on the islands. “The āina, or land, is significant culturally, and students in Hawai‘i are exposed to its teaching from a young age. At most schools in Hawai‘i, culture and Hawaiian values are a core component of the curriculum and are integrated throughout many aspects of our schools’ programming.”

D’Olier noted that members of HAIS include several of the largest independent schools in the U.S., and some of the smallest as well. “Hawai‘i is unique in that about 16% of the student population attends private schools compared to the national average of about 8%,” she said.

There’s an interesting and prevalent dichotomy at these institutions. Their school cultures are grounded in Polynesian tradition, and the past is gracefully carried into the present with songs, food, language, and respect for the land. Yet, these independent school communities are squarely focused on the future, preparing students to make their way into the world as critical thinkers and well-rounded, engaged citizens.

“Every year, we’re sending out 450 or so graduates from this campus to go and make a difference in the world,” said Taran Chun, Ed.D., head of school at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama campus in Honolulu. “We hope that our graduates leave here not only empowered with all the skills they need to obtain whatever education and career they would like to, but that they have a belief that ultimately they should find ways to give back to the native Hawaiian people.”

Heads of school in Hawai‘i embrace the idea that local culture, shaped by its storied past, is woven into the fabric of the education they provide. “Hawai‘i is a profoundly multicultural place,” said Michael Latham, Ph.D., president of Punahou School in Honolulu. “In some parts of the United States, if you say it’s multicultural, that may mean people of different ethnicities are present, but they may not have a lot to do with each other. Here, what you see is a high degree of cultural sharing and engagement, so it just becomes the water in which you swim.”

At the same time, notable independent schools in Hawai‘i skate on the cutting edge of integrating technology into K–12 education. To an outsider, this presents several layers of cognitive dissonance. How can schools be committed to preserving a deep connection to the past and a native culture while juggling sweeping advances in technology and innovation as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? However, those who are familiar with Hawaiian history know its leaders have a track record of innovation and early adoption—from the earliest Polynesian seafarers to those who cultivated the land to make Hawai‘i an agricultural powerhouse; to King Kalākaua, who in the early 1880s was the first monarch in history to circumnavigate the globe; to ‘Iolani Palace, home of Hawaiian monarchs, which had electric lights, indoor plumbing, and a telephone before Buckingham Palace or the White House.

Image: Jacob Pacarro, assistant principal at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, works with his faculty to ensure students are connected to their innovative heritage. 

“One of the things that sets us apart from the majority of private schools throughout the world is our belief that educating through Hawaiian culture is what’s going to help our students not only learn at the highest levels, but also because it makes the learning relevant and engaging,” added Chun. “It’s going to launch them forward with confidence because they see the brilliance of who they are as native Hawaiians.” 

As much as local traditions and culture shape education in Hawai‘i, independent school leaders also recognize the importance of connecting students with the global workplace as they pursue their future endeavors, and this is where today’s technology can play an important role. “We build a lot of what we do on the fact that we’re getting kids ready for a future that’s completely unknown,” explained Paul Turnbull, Ph.D., president of Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu. “[Being a student at Mid-Pacific] will show you all kinds of good stuff, but at the end of the day, it’s about the way in which kids think critically about what’s happening around them and to them.”

At Punahou, the largest independent school on one campus in the state, Latham said its students emerge with classic liberal arts abilities, including the ability to write well, make a compelling oral argument, execute quantitative reasoning, and use the scientific method. “But there’s a whole host of other abilities and capacities, which are crucial,” he noted, highlighting the ability to collaborate in teams, display emotional intelligence, engage in civil discourse, and manage stress and anxiety. “The world of higher education and the future of the workplace are changing dramatically, so the capacity of students to learn and relearn and adapt is crucial because the pace of change is so high. That shapes the kind of education we intend to deliver upon.”

Whether it’s coding starting in elementary school or pulling robotics, modern genomics, and artificial intelligence into middle and high school curricula, Timothy Cottrell, Ph.D., head of school at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu, said school leaders should always be looking to address the emerging areas of the economy while also supporting the development of well-rounded learners. “There’s a much bigger emphasis on what are the technologies we need you to be exposed to, so you know you can be a builder within that space where your creativity and ideas can be brought to life,” he said. “On a parallel thread to technology, we also focus on the most important things for lifelong education and educational outcomes like writing, because being a good writer gives you a great advantage in the world no matter what technology does.”

Technology Leadership at the Top

For schools like Punahou, Mid-Pacific, ‘Iolani, and Kamehameha, technology strategy is deeply embedded in how they design their educational experiences. Touring these campuses, the rows of 3D printers, well-funded robotics labs, and STEM-centric classrooms adorned with the latest technology are certainly impressive. Some displays, including full-size canoes in the innovation center and student-run television stations, are downright breathtaking. But as impressive as these investments in technology are, they take a back seat to the energy of students huddled around a project trying to overcome a challenge or a group of teammates sharing their secret plans for a competition robot they’re designing. Technology is everywhere at these schools, yet it’s clear educational outcomes take center stage.

“Education gets a little enamored with technology,” said ‘Iolani’s Cottrell, who has a background in business, engineering, and technology.

He noted it’s easy to jump on the latest bandwagon when it comes to technology, and exposing students to a variety of productivity tools can serve them well in their future professional lives. “We’re very much in the messy world of project-based learning and allowing our kids to do graduate-level research in the sciences while they’re here,” he said. “Still, you have to make sure technology is serving the education rather than the other way round.”

   Image: Robotic cars are ready for new learners at Mid-Pacific Institute 

This seems to be a prevailing philosophy among school leaders in Hawai‘i when it comes to technology. “The driving question that I think is really important, not just for us but for every school and organization, should be ‘How does technology enhance the human experience and not drive it?’” said Mid-Pacific’s Turnbull. “We can celebrate the new, shiny thing, but how can we help kids understand what’s all around them and that tech is ubiquitous? That leads into the broader way we look at education here. It’s an engaged method of teaching and learning that says we’re going to meet you at a place where the Fourth Industrial Revolution has already occurred.”

Turnbull’s attitude toward technology and education stems from two key memories from his youth. One involves his father, who was an electrical engineer for a telephone company working to expand the communications infrastructure to Saudi Arabia. He recalled his father explaining the difference between copper coax cable and fiber and how the “magic” worked to take language and turn it into binary language, transmit it via light, and then have the reverse translation happen almost instantly on the other end.

“That’s magic, all within a cable on the floor of the ocean,” he said, noting that the concept made him feel very connected to a country a world away. “It brought Saudi Arabia into my head. It wasn’t an abstract concept anymore, and I thought, ‘The world is way smaller than we think it is.’ And remember, this is long before the internet. That was a gift he gave me without knowing it.”

Secondly, Turnbull described sitting in a calculus class in high school when the TI-85 graphing calculator was introduced. Even though the handheld device would save students from memorizing pages of calculations and handwriting solutions, the class continued in status quo because it took the teachers the better part of a year to learn how to teach with the devices, he added. “I was still sitting there regurgitating this stuff when I knew it was going to be completely obsolete,” he noted. “I could see how education would always be running to catch up to real life. And so, for me, ever since then, I’ve always leaned into how we could shorten the delta between where we are as a school and the world’s technological realities.”

Mid-Pacific was the first school in Hawai‘i to be 1-to-1 with iPads in 2011, Turnbull explained, and it was early in creating a professional development program around the idea of engaged and project-based learning. “From that point forward, we just started adding and adding,” he said. “Today, we have an immersive technology program.”

At Mid-Pacific, Turnbull said having an immersive technology program is outlined with the school’s comprehensive technology vision, which touches three pillars: engineering, digital storytelling, and computational thinking. To be truly immersive, technology cannot be a class or a program, he said. “It’s an integrated approach to arts and technology and character development, altogether.”

The school has plenty of expensive hardware and software, including FARO high-performance 3D laser scanners, used for detailed measurement and 3D documentation, and all the trappings of virtual reality and mixed reality. Still, Turnbull said, “it’s not a technology class that kids are using these things in. It’s a humanities class. They’re in museum studies focusing on digital historic preservation.”

In this immersive experience, Mid-Pacific students are learning about digital storytelling and how technological advances can serve a greater purpose and advance the world around them. The school has partnered with local museums in Hawai‘i to scan and document hundreds of historic artifacts, including notable elements hailing from the ‘Iolani Palace and other items that capture local history. “The nice thing about it is that kids learn local history through their own eyes,” Turnbull explained. “They perform an act of community service by giving museums rendered files that contain laser scans of artifacts that will be saved in perpetuity. The kids write up a prospectus to pitch their project ideas. They have to understand project management. And all of this experience is underwritten by amazing technology and by teachers who are open-minded enough to say that technology, social sciences, and community service should be taught as one.”

  Image: Punahou is the largest independent school on one campus in Hawai‘i, with a student population of more than 3,700

Having faculty bought into the technology goals at the school is an important piece of the puzzle, Punahou’s Latham said, but it’s also about creating an environment in which all the people on the campus—not just students—are committed to learning. “You sometimes hear a school leader saying, ‘My job is to hire great faculty and get out of the way.’ I’ve always scratched my head at that and said, ‘No, your job is to hire a great faculty and then help create the conditions in which they can continue to grow and improve and develop.’”

Pandemic Strategies

Given the islands’ traumatic history of pandemics significantly affecting native populations, Hawai‘i was among the most aggressive of states in terms of COVID-19 protective measures and incoming-traveler restrictions. “This pandemic has resurrected part of our past that was very difficult,” Chun explained.

Phil Bossert, executive director of HAIS, said during the pendulum swing of the 2020 and 2021 school years, HAIS schools “certainly demonstrated just how creative and resourceful our institutions can be when a crisis calls for it.”

‘Iolani School was early to preparation efforts for a likely shutdown. Cottrell explained that a chance conversation with a well-informed alumnus, world- renowned immunologist Vernon Oi, was all the nudge he needed to execute swift action. “It was March 2020 when we all had to go online,” Cottrell said. “In January [2020], we were already training our folks and setting up the technologies to do remote learning, and we had already built systems to sync every student’s schedule to Zoom.”

The campus practiced remote learning ahead of the shutdown, too, Cottrell explained. ‘Iolani was doing pandemic drills months before many schools were realizing that distance learning would be a part of their regular vocabularies in just a few short months. “We had our teachers doing on-site training because all of our students have iPads, and they would conduct remote classes once a day. The students would sit anywhere on campus and access their class online.”

Like schools around the country and the world, Kamehameha quickly adopted a lot of technology to make remote learning possible and it prioritized training, so teachers felt confident that they could deliver a great virtual education. When it came time to pursue bringing students back to campus, even in limited numbers, the school leaders once again turned to technology to help in the pandemic-affected environment, Chun explained. “We adopted badges, which made it possible for us to easily do contact tracing because [early efforts at contact tracing] took so much effort and resources,” he said. “With badges, we just set these up, and if you’re identified as a close contact, we see who all your close contacts were for five days or whatever is required. It allowed us to open up a little bit, and we had more flexibility now that we had this technology.”

Technology aided ‘Iolani with a relatively quick return to campus as well, Cottrell said. The school was the first to return to on-campus operations, starting in September 2020, and leveraged hybrid learning only when students had to quarantine. They also made use of the equipment and space in their Sullivan Center for Innovation and Leadership to 3D print and assemble more than 17,000 face shields for the school and greater community. “I think our school culture and One Team ethos really helped with that quick return to in-person learning,” he said. “The whole idea is that we were wearing all of this PPE [personal protective equipment, such as face shields and face masks] to not only protect ourselves, but also our family members and each other in the event that we were sick or asymptomatic. That message very much resonated with our school community, and our students wore the masks with face shields and did everything we asked.”

As time went on, technology allowed Kamehameha to get creative in how it built flexibility into the school day, Pacarro said. “One of the coolest things that came out of the pandemic was we reimagined what a school day looks like. We built an online school in the morning, and an on-campus school in the afternoon [for those] who felt comfortable attending for those classes that couldn’t be done online.” These included auto technician classes, woodworking, and other hands-on learning not easily accomplished virtually, he explained. Image: Mid-Pacific Institute’s immersive technology program includes expensive equipment, but educators focus on creating an immersive experience so technology supports a greater purpose.

The goal through all phases of the pandemic was singular, Chun added, ensuring all students had access to rigorous learning experiences in their Hawaiian culture-based education. “We remain committed to deliver a high-quality education and to fulfill our mission, no matter the learning environment,” he said.

Keeping an eye on the big picture of fulfilling the mission was no easy task for schools struggling to adjust with every wave of the pandemic over what became an unexpectedly extended time frame. “Part of the challenge, of course, was trying to ensure that you’re still moving forward on your strategic goals, even as you handle all of the day-to-day operational challenges,” said Punahou’s Latham.

The Punahou campus was closed for seven months, and the administration had to weigh decisions in an environment in which there were widely varied degrees of risk tolerance among families and staff. Though it might not seem like ideal timing, the school also launched a strategic planning process. “What we came to realize was that we still wanted to move forward on the strategic goals even in the middle of the sort of disruption and operational work we had to do,” Latham explained. “We didn’t want to defer the larger strategic work we thought was really important, and the challenge for the Punahou leadership was to figure out how to innovate from a position of strength.”

This required Punahou administrators to dig deep and look for opportunities to reinvent areas they already considered to be strengths for the school. “We had to figure out how to continue to define the areas of real interest to us,” he said. “And then, on top of that, you also need to have a collaborative process that people can be a part of, even in the midst of these other competing demands. Ultimately, what we moved toward was a strategy based on an iterative planning approach.”

With the educational landscape shifting so quickly, Latham knew that a traditional strategic plan could be obsolete within 18 months or so, thereby making the endeavor a waste of time and effort. “What we are moving toward is a series of annual action plans where we define targets and things we want to pursue that we’re especially interested in,” he explained. “Some things are accomplished in the near term, and that’s great—they’re resolved. You’ve learned what you needed to know. Some are going to take a longer period of time. But we wanted a structure that would be flexible enough to allow for that.”

Some of the technology Punahou adopted when distance learning was required at the height of the pandemic found a permanent place in the school’s toolbox. “A lot of it we hung onto and started using routinely because it just turned out to be really effective,” Latham explained.

For example, the school’s annual celebration of Hawaiian culture, May Day, is a pageant that traditionally drew the local community to campus. When the pandemic hit, the school transitioned to a virtual delivery, which allowed it to reach its community of 30,000 alumni. “Suddenly, we were putting this content out there and reaching people we would have never reached before,” he said. “It completely expanded our ability to engage with and have a really exciting connection with our alumni. That was a silver lining.”

Technology for Inclusion, Community

Kamehameha Schools has a special mission at all campuses to exclusively serve native Hawaiian children, as outlined by the school’s founder and benefactor, Princess Ke Ali‘i Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Among the final line of royals in Hawai‘i, the princess wanted to leave an enduring legacy for the people of Hawai‘i and recognized that education would be a key to a hopeful future. “She thought very intentionally about what she could do to bless her people,” explained Chun. “She chose to create a school to educate native Hawaiian children, and she named it after her great-grandfather.

“We’re glad she had that vision,” Chun continued, “because we believe that if the native Hawaiian child is given a great education, they can overcome all of the other social and other challenges they experience in their life to create success and happiness and prosperity for their families and the communities they live in.”

Chun explained that native Hawaiian boys struggle the most, with high rates of high school dropout and teen suicide. This is on top of the challenges Hawai‘i has with joblessness, homelessness, and poor health conditions. “We have a long way to go … but that’s why our school exists—to help the native people thrive and prosper again.

“We thought we had to separate ourselves from our Hawaiian identity and culture to somehow get ahead, because that’s what we were conditioned to believe,” he said. “What sets Kamehameha apart from other independent schools is our belief in Hawaiian culture-based education, and a big part of that is embracing technology.”

Chun noted that the pandemic opened administrators’ eyes to the possibilities that flexibility could offer their learners in pursuing a well-rounded education. Some students chased their passions with jobs, internships, or time to practice other hobbies. “The brick-and-mortar, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. schedule doesn’t allow a child to do that.”

Further, it’s likely the pandemic-nudged adoption of technology and digitization of resources could help Kamehameha meet its mission with a deeper reach to native Hawaiian students, regardless of their location. “KS Digital, what we call [the online learning platform] today, grew out of an urgent need to provide good quality online distance learning and virtual learning for all students,” Chun said. “We’ve created a healthy catalog of courses that our students and public schools can access to get that learning. That’s one of the technologies that is a blessing, and we’re still trying to understand what that means for us moving forward.”

“If our mission is to reach as many native Hawaiian students as possible,” Pacarro added, “then the limitation was always brick and mortar, right? Going beyond the physical classroom allows us to potentially reach way more students, so it’s not only in Hawai‘i, but across the globe. And then, if we can do it, maybe we can help other native peoples do it as well.”

   Image: At ‘Iolani, students combine engineering principles with their seafaring heritage of designing and sailing vessels

Latham noted that mental health assessments at Punahou reveal that native Hawaiian students feel respected and a strong sense of belonging at the school, likely a result of the fact that “we have a school environment in which the Hawaiian host culture is very much permeating the environment itself. It shows up in music and literature and in our chapel services. We offer Hawaiian as a language in the high school.”

Where fault lines can appear, Latham noted, is in the realm of class and socioeconomic status. “One of the challenges for a school like Punahou is to remain as accessible as we can,” he said. “We have need-blind admissions, which we’re really proud of. When we’re enrolling kids, we have no idea about their families’ capacity to pay for a Punahou education.”

Mid-Pacific’s Turnbull said he believes technology can help schools with inclusion and belonging, provided that the schools start with ensuring equity for tech resources. “The question about access and equity where technology is concerned is absolutely fundamental in today’s day and age,” he said.

From there, tools such as virtual reality can help place the learner in a space to experience firsthand what it’s like to be a war-affected refugee or a person without a permanent home, for example. “You can use technology to illustrate a human problem, and that should facilitate the next discussion,” Turnbull said.

Independent schools in Hawai‘i are a close-knit community, D’Olier said, which allows them to work together and within the broader community to support students with varied socioeconomic backgrounds, learning preferences, and educational goals. “Hawai‘i is … fortunate to have some of the best learning institutions in the country, most of which are half the tuition of comparable schools on the mainland,” she noted. “Our independent schools are also incredibly diverse, with options for every type of learner.”

In many ways, being a part of the independent school community is just as much a part of students’ identities as their unique experiences growing up on the islands of Hawai‘i, D’Olier said. “In Hawai‘i, when someone asks what school you went to, they aren’t asking about college,” she explained. “Hawai‘i’s independent schools are deeply ingrained in the very fiber of our community, with a deep sense of loyalty that can often span several generations.”