Mililani Uka 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.

Two of my kids transferred to this school during the reopening from Covid. The entire faculty and staff are all very welcoming to both students and parents. Many of the staff and even the principal took time to know my kids, and they are greeted everyday when walking the halls. They handle Covid guidelines pretty well and my kids have transitioned easily. Overall, my kids have shown great progress in their academics and social skills since starting at this school. Most importantly, we all feel safe here. Mahalo KES!

Overcrowded with over 700 students. Barely enough room to walk around. Health room is unorganized, speech therapist has an accent, and the teachers do not correct the way students talk to each other. When I asked for more challenging schoolwork for my child, nothing changed. When I requested a different teacher, nothing changed. When we spoke to the principal about our issues, nothing changed. The kids vandalize the park next to the school with explicit words and images regularly and ride e-bikes daily, almost hitting the younger kids. One of the school signs in front of the school had the N word on it with the hard R for months before being removed. Not a school I would recommend to anyone I care about.

I was a student here since kindergarten, and this has been the best school ever. The students are nice and the teachers are patient and caring. They won't quit until you get the lessons right. It was easy to make friends with everyone and the Robotics classes were fun. I recommend this school to everyone. It is such a great place in a great community.

Hanalani school is nothing great , they stereotype their students . I’m for one my grandson was accused by a teacher of a malicious act and and reported it to the principal. Now they banned him from campus and will miss classes and miss playing sports. Paying tuition as this much is a joke , not worth what they want you to believe .

There are some great teachers here and it has a lot of potential but overall there is too much favoritism, bullying, poor communication with parents and poor leadership. Our kids attended this school for several years and we had some good experiences but also some of the worst ones. I do not recommend this school to anyone I speak with. There is a MAJOR disconnect from it and the church. It most definitely does not feel like a ministry of the church which is very sad. Hopefully they get a new principal( it was a woman when we were there) and are able to refocus on providing quality Christian education to students and partnering with parents.

5 Stars School. College prep from Pre-k. Try it to believe it.