CEEO: Glen Kila
Principal: Clarence DeLude

Through Conversion Charter status, Kamaile’s 2020 vision is to gradually expand to a P-14 school environment with an extended school day and year. This will provide them with the opportunity to offer programs to teach the whole child while maintaining rigorous academic curricula and strengthening and nurturing the Hawaiian culture and community on the Wai’anae Coast.  Recently, Kamaile revised its Conversion Charter School Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) to include grades 7 and 8 and also extended day programs that will provide a sanctuary that nurtures learning beyond traditional school hours and provides the extra support they need to thrive emotionally, physically, and academically.

Although Kamaile Academy is still the district K-6 school for public school students who live in Wai`anae, Kamaile also accepts students from outside the area who apply for geographic exceptions.  The surrounding communities are growing rapidly with families who have been displaced from their homes due to higher rents, job outsourcing or downsizing and are living on the beaches in tents or in transitional family shelters. As a result, Kamaile is projecting substantial increases in the number of students it currently serves as another 72 family unit shelter opens in June 2008 in addition to an existing 50 unit family shelter.  Rapid growth has meant enormous changes in the area’s demographics, crime, teenage pregnancies, and drug use with the high increase of families and single parents living at/below poverty level. This small, rural community of people, whose families have been living here for generations, is expanding to include families living at/below poverty level who are new to the lifestyle and cultural history of the Wai`anae Coast (Moku).

The School Leadership Team at Kamaile Academy consists of two highly qualified and experienced administrators who are leading the school through organizational change:

1. Chief Executive Education Officer (CEEO):  Glen Kila is a state certified administrator and has had over a decade of administrative experience, serving as Kamaile’s principal for the past six years.  Mr. Kila is also a trained cultural practitioner and educator.
2. Principal:  Clarence De Lude is a state certified administrator and has had over a decade of experience serving as a principal in both the DOE and a private PreK-8 school setting.  He has returned to the Wai`anae area, where he served as Principal of an elementary school, demonstrating his commitment to the children of this area and to support Kamaile’s charter development.

Recently in August 2007, Kamaile Academy (formerly Kamaile Elementary School) on Oahu joined the cohort of Ho’okako’o schools. The demographics of students attending Kamaile Academy in SY 2007-2008 were identified as being 60% Hawaiian/Part Hawaiian ethnicity, 86% Free and Reduced Lunch, and 17% Special Education status.

Kamaile has commenced the development of innovative practices that ensure that education is relevant and meaningful for students, including but not limited to:

1. Adopted a framework for Waianae kupuka`aina values, beliefs and traditions that will guide culturally immersive and holistic teaching and learning for students and school community.
2. Established partnerships with community organizations to provide professional development for teachers and to implement instruction and curriculum that reflect Hawaiian indigenous education.
3. Retained a cultural specialist and kupuna for SY2008-2009 to work with teachers in integrating Hawaiian culture, language and values into curriculum and instructional practices.
4. Commenced a technology education program that promotes rigorous, relevant and meaningful learning experiences for students.  Specifically:
   • 3 sets of portable Computers on Wheels (175 lap tops) to allow every student access to information technology as part of classroom learning
   • 30 ELMO projectors for teachers to use to enhance classroom instruction.
   • Initial training for teachers to become more proficient in the use of the hardware, software and network (web-based) tools.
   • After school and intersession literacy, computer, Hawaiian culture, and STEM classes for students and parents.
5. Adopted a project-based learning (PBL) framework for teaching and learning whose PBL units reinforce Kamaile’s efforts to develop relevant, rigorous and personalized learning opportunities for students.

Kamaile Academy has commenced the development of programs and services that promote successful transitions between grade levels and through critical transition points. The most important program is the Response To Intervention (RTI) framework which includes progressive monitoring of student performance in reading and math and student grouping strategies based on data.  The RTI framework increases teacher collaboration and planning in support of student learning, and teacher articulation improves the quality and follow-through of support for students as they transition between grade levels.  Kamaile Academy utilizes the RTI framework for assessing, monitoring and planning for student growth over time.  The framework ensures that each student’s areas of academic need are addressed in a timely and appropriate manner.

In addition, school-wide reading and math programs have resulted in written and articulated   K-6 standards, curriculum and assessments for Kamaile.  With this alignment in place, teachers are better able to personalize instruction for students and facilitate successful transitions between grade levels. Academic coaches for reading and math are ensuring that teachers receive data and information about each of their students from previous or other teachers.  This information and support from the coaches facilitates articulation and the successful transition of students across grade levels.

Kamaile Academy’s website is located at http://www.kamaileacademy.com