Niu Valley Middle School

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 child has attended Koko Head since kindergarten, and has done well with all of the staff and almost all of the teachers. There is one teacher in particular who does not have the skills or knowledge necessary to guide children who need more support and struggle with emotional regulation and focus. Who fails to follow 504 plans/IEP’s as if they were optional to the teaching occupation. Who uses tactics that clearly lack emotional maturity as an adult, and harassing parents by writing incessant emails about petty behavior issues that are common to most children. Additionally, using antiquated discipline tactics like forcing students to write unauthentic, coerced apology letters, using social shaming by having peers police and tell on certain students, and withholding recess as punishment, all of which has been found to be counterproductive in educating children by researchers. This type of negative reinforcement only affects growing children who can begin to display behavior issues out of frustration, and the previous principle and currently employed teacher fail to understand and respond appropriately and adequately to children who simply learn differently and/or need more connection before correction, more physical movement breaks, and encouragement rather than constant negative judgment or punishment. As parents, we entrust our children to teachers for 5-6 hours per day, 5 days a week, some of us are forced to have our children in public school in order to go to work, and the feeling you get when your child is being constantly ridiculed and shamed, knowing that they deserve better emotional maturity from an adult that is suppose to lead them is incredibly disheartening. We need adults to show up for these kids with a strong emotional intelligence, the courage to be patient, day-in and day-out, and the strength and compassion needed for positive leadership in the classroom. There are some amazing teachers and staff at this school, so I don’t wish to paint the entire school in a negative light, because there is SO MUCH POSITIVITY here, but one bad apple can truly sour the entire batch, and the experience that a child can have with one bad teacher can be incredibly detrimental to their developing sense of self and social wellbeing. I know this sadly, first-hand.

Teachers show compassion for students and excel in the classroom. Staff is friendly and caring. The students are cared for, and children will leave daily with new knowledge. GREAT SCHOOL!

This school is a joke. The communication with families is TERRIBLE. There is no parental involvement unless you sign up for the PTSA. You literally have no idea what’s going on in your children’s classroom; there is such poor family engagement that it is honestly dreadful. The principal seems to not care anything about the students’ trajectory or the major problems that inhibit the children’s wellness and attitudes about school. It truly leaves much to desire, but locals permit this type of passive approach to our children’s well being, so it likely will not change.

My kid was in kinder with the best teacher. The class size was doable (about 20 kids) and there were some aids for certain students. This school is considered a IB School (International Baccalaureate) which means they have some high quality programs to help create a better world. In kindergarten they learned math, reading, writing, arts and crafts, physical education, Hawaiian studies, nihongo, and STEM projects. Can’t wait for the years to come! I love our school! If the school stays on this path, I think it will be the #1 school on the island ~

This school has given my children the opportunity to grow and learn in an environment that is safe, loving and fun! Watching them grow at Holy Nativity has brought our family a tremendous amount of joy!

Just want to clarify for people because the info on this page is incorrect. The tuition is ~ $24,000 a year. It goes up every year. There are NO sports. There are only three grades teachers and they combine all the classes. Total enrollment is around 45 kids for grades 1-5. Only 8 kids in middle school. School day is 7:55- 245pm.