Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Lānaʻi Marks First Transition Into Middle School

video by Anthony Kaauamo

Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Lānaʻi, which first began during the 2021-2022 school year, reached a historic milestone May 27 during its Lā Puka Papa 5 (fifth grade graduation) as the program’s first students prepare to enter the middle school level at Lānaʻi High and Elementary School.

Families, kūpuna, and kumu gathered for the event, which recognized Kēhauʻohaliʻileihua Hanog, Kamaikeʻalohilanī Siliga, Kahiwaonālani Bolo, and Huahiwa Magaoay, who are set to move into sixth grade next school year, as well as Kiaʻiola Medeiros and Puʻuwai Vila, who will continue into fifth grade. Kumu present included Ipolani Medeiros, Simeona Tajiri, Kuʻuiʻini Kaʻauwai, and Laʻikealoha Hanog.

Students moving into sixth grade next school year will continue learning their core subjects in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi under Kumu Kuʻuiʻini Kaʻauwai while also joining other LHES students for electives.

Efforts to establish Hawaiian immersion education on Lānaʻi publicly intensified in 2014 as families and community members pushed for a Kula Kaiapuni program at LHES. Some families seeking immersion education traveled off-island or relocated so their children could continue learning through ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

That same year, Chelsa Clarabal filed the case Clarabal v. Department of Education, challenging the lack of Hawaiian immersion access on Lānaʻi. In 2019, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled that the state has a constitutional obligation to make reasonable efforts to provide Hawaiian language immersion education in the public school system. Community-led immersion efforts, including summer programs and supplemental instruction on Lānaʻi, continued in the years before the classroom officially began.