Kipapa Elementary School

I had an amazing experience with 3 of our children going to Mililani Mauka since Kindergarten. The education was excellent. Communication was great among the administration and the teachers. I am also happy that they started more community activities like the first annual Mililani Fun Fair. My son had an opportunity to do a 5th grade trip to Washington DC through the school. If there were any issues, admin and the counselors handled it with empathy, professionally and very quickly. I would highly recommend this school! :)

This school should be better.Despite fairly high test scores, the experience here falls far short of what families should expect. Hawaii’s schools rank in the bottom third nationally, and in our two years here, this “highly rated” school felt closer to a 3/10 compared to mainland standards. The main issue is poor leadership that prioritizes staff convenience over student experience. Most problems could be solved with stronger leadership and genuine care for families.There is no parent-teacher organization, leading to little accountability or transparency. Leadership resists parent input and improvement with endless excuses. The lack of facilities is unacceptable: no playground or equipment for 1st–5th graders, no multipurpose room for assemblies or plays, and no covered recess space. Children are taken to an empty field with no benches, tables, or shade, and recess ends when it drizzles.Quarterly awards are held in a hallway where parents views are blocked by pillars and under tarps. Some grades have only one recess, with no lunch playtime, and physical activity is sometimes withheld as punishment. Most students eat outside under tarps. There is no on-campus A+ afterschool program, leaving few options for working families.The curriculum is bare. No foreign language or music education is offered. Technology is underutilized, limited to standardized testing and drills rather than creative or project-based work. Homework is minimal and uninspiring, tests are returned weeks late, and the pace seems set for the slowest learners. Hawaiian studies lacked rigor—no graded work was returned, and a year of lessons consisted mostly of storytelling. Overall, children are not challenged with projects, teamwork, or creativity.Parental engagement is minimal. Parents are rarely welcomed to events, and only one was allowed when invited. Open house is reduced to teachers writing their names on the board rather than presenting their teaching style or curriculum. The school motto emphasizes behavior and conformity over curiosity and growth. Annual fundraising subsidizes field trips rather than addressing critical facility gaps. The campus is tiny yet holds 700+ students.On the positive side, classrooms have air conditioning, the children are generally well behaved, and the office staff are kind and helpful.Families deserve better. Leadership must shift from “doing the minimum” to creating an environment where children thrive academically, socially, and creatively.

Our children have been here for two years now, and we have had very mixed experiences. The teachers are wonderful. Both our kids have had absolutely amazing teachers who truly care about helping students learn and excel.However, the administration is a disaster. The enrollment process is ridiculous, and we received conflicting information every time we spoke to someone in the main office. There was no clear pathway to get them enrolled, which resulted in a 6 week wait before our kids could start their school year after our PCS. The conflicting information has continued the entire time we have been here, making it incredibly difficult to navigate our children’s’ education. Any time we have called the office, the person we need to speak to is always somehow out. Even though they promise to relay our message, and it never happens. We never receive calls back as promised, and the school secretaries always act as if it is an incredible burden to assist us. In this respect, I would give the school zero stars if I could. They lost my son’s entire medical record, with all of his PII, and offered no explanation other than a shoulder shrug. They then explained that we would need to replace the information immediately so he could continue attending. The only thing we dislike about our assignment is Wheeler Elementary, and for that reason alone, I would be willing to cut our tour here short. We’ve dealt with five different school systems throughout our childrens’ education, and it is truly unfortunate how abysmal the school administration is at this school.

Mililani Ike is such a friendly school. The teachers are great and the office staff are very helpful. The campus is beautiful and well maintained. The school encourages family involvement and my children enjoy going to school each day. People move to Mauka just to have their children attend this school.

This is a wonderful school. Even though I am not a Lutheran, I still feel welcomed here. Even though the math curriculum is not great, there are wonderful teachers to explain it. There are not many foreign language courses though, so that might be a downside. The teachers are all very friendly, and I enjoy talking with and learning from them. There are many events taking place during the year, including my personal favorite, May Day. I love this school, I feel at home here, and I will be sad to leave when I graduate this year.