Kuleana Education

★★★★★Jason Engman

Our 7 year old son has been at Kuleana Education since he started kindergarten and we couldnʻt be happier. The teachers genuinely care, the curriculum is solid, and you can tell the whole team is invested in each kid as an individual, not just a number. Not only do they teach core education, but they have gardening, social classes, Japanese class, and Hawaiian culture classes. Itʻs not just about hitting test scores like in the public schools, its about useful life skills along with the standard education. I have seen my son learn, and grow into an amazing little person, assisted by Dana and the rest of the staff. I wouldnʻt have my son anywhere else. He fell behind in a few areas, and they were quick to identify them and work with him. If youʻre looking at schools on the Big Island, Kuleana is stellar. In other reviews they comment negatively about having kids with disabilities mixed in the classroom, I actually appreciate my son learns how to interact with people from different walks of life. He is friends with these kids. Highly recommend the school, and wish they did High school as well, I would keep him in his entire school journey.

★Byron Kay

Basically a daycare My children have been at this school for 7 years now. There's plenty of farm animals running around and a focus on mindfulness and gardening. If you want your children to learn reading and math THIS IS NOT THE SCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILDREN. The discipline is SEVERELY LACKING. Our boys have been assaulted multiple times by other students. Detention doesnt' exist. It's a total joke. This school is more like a daycare. I have spoken to many other parents that leave because they feel their kids are receiving an inferiour education. THE TURNOVER HERE IS MASSIVE. Normally, you might send your children to a private school expecting higher standards. At Kuleana Education expect LOWER STANDARDS. My boys have been pushed, THROAT PUNCHED, and kicked yet the principle has done nothing to address these assaults. I'm worried because my children who have been attending this school for 7 years will be behind when they arrive at public school. Between them they are 3-4 years behind where they should be in general education. What a joke. Response to response: I will acknowledge that you finally took action when the same child who assaulted both of my boys punched another girl in the face you simply removed him from the playground for a month as punishment. No suspension no detention. Pathetic response. One of my boys complains that he has headaches so he can avoid going to this school. It's possible they are telling you what you want to hear to avoid conflict. They also tell us how they can't stand the other children because they are allowed to behave so poorly in class and it disrupts their learning. While you have stated that this review is personal. yes it absolutley is. This is my childs welfare. You fail to address the high turnover. Anyone touring the school can easily see the small class sizes of the 7-8th graders. You state that you conduct regular evaluations yet we don't receive them so how can we know you are truthful? Where are the results? Just because you say you have 100% retention doesn't make it true. That's just a straight lie. It's laughable you could even say this. A real school would not make up lies about themselves to make it appear they are something they are not. In fact this is actually concerning since, as a business owner I know it's sometimes best not to retain under-performing or troublesome employees. Are you implying that every hire you make is a good one? This now seems even more unbeleivable given this fact. Just because you say you take student safety seriously doesn't mean it's true, again, just words with no real backing or proof behind them. Speaking of disabilities one of my sons has 2 children with disabilities in his class. So they take away the attention of the teacher from the rest of the class to have to deal with them when they should be in a separate class for that type of student. My children have complained that yet again there are kids in their classes with severe learning disabilities that draw not only the attention of the teacher but are very disruptive to the students. Traditionally, if a learning disability is so severe that it is that disruptive those students would be separated to into a specialized class. All of these statements are facts. Your denial of your school's lack of ability to discipline and educate in basic ways is born out by the high rate of turnover and dropouts. Unfortunately, this means many of the best students with the most caring parents leave, while the worst troublemakers stick around and assault your children. Finally, you may notice this review has recieved a like. This is because there are others out there that agree with me. A boy by the name of Emmet has been punching and kicking and biting other children. His punishment is that he was banned from the playground, but he was allowed back on and he has hit my children multiple times and throat punched them.

★★★★★Lauralynn Ellison

Lauralynn & Steve Ellison: If my husband and I were to personally customize a wholesome, educational experience to prepare our young sons for life…Kuleana Education covers it all! We have experienced four other schools in our Kona area and this nurturing atmosphere fits both us parents and our children! We have all personally spent much time on campus over these last couple years getting to know both dedicated, loving staff and amazing students. It’s the only school we’ve seen nurture these kid’s spirits in order for them to confidently thrive and accomplish personal life goals. Most importantly, occasional conflicts are teacher guided and sorted out between classmates with positive skills taught in Social Emotional classes. As a parent, my concerns were responded to, but the staff assisted students in open discussions to solve any conflicts soon after they happened. These are wonderful skills to teach our kids! Here we find a solid foundation of kindness, respect, mindfulness, life skills, Hawaiian Studies, Music, cultural celebration, creative expression mixed in with basic classes…this offers more than we could ask for! This year our son actually took the lead in his science project and also his business plan for entrepreneurial day! We witnessed first hand some great, creative thinkers! In addition, the Ellison Ohana proudly share that our son has greatly improved his overall performance since he has always struggled with autism 1, anxiety disorder and ADHD. Every day was a struggle for us all with two boys on the spectrum. We are much improved now! Finally, Kuleana Education’s symbiotic professional inclusion of supervised medical RBT’s(Registered Behavior Therapists from Big Island Behavior Intervention at Imi’ Ola Services), allows our children to better access their education and to improve their social skills on a daily basis. For the first time, we are cutting back medical hours only due to the amazing improvements Samuel has made both academically and socially. Our wonderful clients have also thanked us for recommending Kuleana Education for their children and grandchildren due to the offered trauma based education. A place where we all find joy, success and a reason to explore with new friendships made. Much gratitude to our Kuleana Education Ohana! Mahalo!❤️

★★★★★Kathy Kuikahi

My granddaughter attended Kuleana for 9 years kindergarten through her graduating 8th grade last year. She started out rocky but because of the loving giving teachers and staff she did great! Her graduating speech was directed to each teacher and how they affected her life. I now have her 2 younger siblings attending and again the love and individuality of the care they are receiving is so special. I truly love and support this school and all of the teachers and staff. I strongly encourage you this school for your children .

★★★★★Sandra McIlhenny

Although I do not have students attending this school, I have had the privilege of interacting with the students and faculty on several occasions; most recently this past Friday at their Entrepreneur Event. Each student that I interacted with was engaged and pleasant and polite. They had obviously spent time and effort in learning how to prepare and market product, were able to make change, and politely thanked me as a customer. Learning and being able to use each of these skills are lessons that they will use in their lives. As a member of the community, I am happy that faculty are engaging students in this manner.