4120 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

Excellent. A+. A little harder coursework than other high schools but with matched student outcomes.

As a military family, our kids have attended a plethora of schools across the country. After leaving Hawai'i, my kids attended some of the top ranking schools in Silicon Valley, where the teachers asked, "what school did your kids attend? They are so advanced." Wilson. This school nurtured my children, grew their understanding of other cultures, and made them better people. They are now in high school and, if I had to choose the best school they ever attended, it would be this one. Wilson is an amazing school, with some of the best teachers in the country. Do they have high expectations? Absolutely. This must be embraced. Allow your kids to struggle, learn, and gain self efficacy. As high schoolers, they have earned multiple awards, scored at the top of AP and ACT exams, etc. Most importantly, they still love learning. They can still chant the Wilson oli, perform a hula, and their ipu grace our bookshelves. In essence, this school is incredible.

My 2 kids started here this year, after distance learning last year and being shuffled about in country-wide confusion. I could not be more impressed with the 7th grade school counselor, Mr Craig Yamada. He is very communicative via email and takes the initiative to work through challenges with students before they become overwhelming. He knows what kids this age need. He will not push anyone to talk to him more than they may want to and will ask for parental feedback before approaching any issues students are having. I have emailed him questions at 9:30pm, when I’m finished with my day, and he’s gotten right back to me with resources for answers, passwords, phone numbers, or anything I may need. He is like an on-call liaison between parent and school that I’ve never experienced. I have told everyone I know about how amazing this man is— forwarding helpful emails he has sent to educators, telling friends at the DOE, and talking to clients at the mental health practice I run, in hopes of spreading his amazing work around our school systems. If all schools had just one counselor who worked as well as Mr Yamada, I feel that we would have communities of happier teachers and parents working as one.

This school is great, clean, close by.

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