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Punagirl, they have school supplies drives here, too. There are at least acouple of organizations that sponser collections. The "Christmas Wish" program out of Keaau is currently running the school supplies collection for homeless keiki in Hawaii Cty (they are in real need of backbacks this year).
For more information on this great program (and, of course to donate your time & talents) go to:
www.ChristmasWishProgram.org
Edited by - carey on 06/18/2007 08:19:20
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quote:
Aloha Everyone..our son is starting elementary school next year and am seriously considering this school..would love to hear your thoughts..
I am not going to get into the debate over public vs private but talk about Malamalama. It was started almost 30 years ago by a couple of dedicated people who were Waldorf certtified teachers. The first location was in Opihikao (much like the charter school next to the hot ponds is now) - some years later they were given a very long term lease on the land where it sits in HPP by the Watamull family (for those of you newcomers, Watamull started the HPP subdivision). Malamalama has an excellent foundation if your thing is Waldorf. The kids seem to enjoy the school and then they are off to the GATE programs, typically, at Keaau HS (yes PUBLIC!) where many of them have done extremely well including scholarships to good universities. The requirement of the Waldorf program is parent involvement. The teachers at MWS dont make near what the public school teachers do, the school does fundraisers to supplement the tutions fees. What else can I tell you? How do I know all this? Well I worked there in the office for about a year trying to decide whether I would go back to the construction field. Their budgets had to be cut back, I donated time until I found another job. That is probably their one bad point, the office is always scrambling about how to get things the teachers need badly! As with any non-profit, money is an issue constantly. But all the teachers go above and beyond to make sure the kids have a good education.
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*trust me* Do not send your kid public. Even the charters have their problems. Some have figured it out. Some haven't.
Malamalama is an great school. The methods are less relavent than the fact that it's a personalized education at a school that honors children. Your son will thrive there.
