Iolani School

Programs: 'iolani was founded in 1863 after king kamehameha iv and queen emma set out to establish an anglican church in hawaii. The school is rooted in three small schools - a lahaina school on the island of maui, st. Alban's college and 'iolani college - formed during hawaii's monarchy days. The school's campus was once located on the grounds of st. Andrew's cathedral, moved to nu'uanu, and then finally relocated in 1946 to its present 25-acre property. 'iolani was originally an all-boys school, but became co-educational in 1979. Today, 'iolani has more than 10,310 living alumni around the world. There are approximately 330 full-time faculty and staff dedicated to approximately 1,900 students from diverse backgrounds enrolled in grades k - 12. Roughly 700 part-time or seasonal teachers, aides, coaches, and staff supplement the school's expansive after-school, summer, performing arts, athletic and extra-curricular programs. During the summer, students from throughout the state and around the world enroll in classes. 'iolani school is a private school yet serves the public purpose of reaching out to the community as well as being a resource for other organizations. The school is increasingly becoming more global as students are connected by technology to other parts of the world. In the fall of 2013, the school opened the new sullivan center for innovation and leadership, a four-story, 40,000 square foot green designed building offering collaborative learning spaces where students learn to be effective leaders through courses emphasizing empathy, interpersonal communication and real-world problem solving. The building includes a fabrication lab and maker spaces, a library with collaboration rooms, flexible open learning spaces, a wet lab, a media center, a seminar room, and a rooftop garden. The center is also a community resource for various local and national groups. 'iolani upholds high standards of academic excellence and is considered amongst the educational leaders in hawaii and around the world. The school maintains a healthy financial portfolio and attempts to keep tuition as low as possible. Tuition covers approximately 75% of the cost of educating a child with interest income from the school's endowment and fundraising covering the difference between tuition and the actual cost. The school's faculty is highly qualified and committed to their students with relational teaching a high priority. Teachers are encouraged to attend conferences either locally or nationally to stay abreast of current and effective pedagogies. 2013-14 was the first year of full implementation of the i-department, which provides students with electives akin to college-level courses that inspire innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition, the school maintains outstanding academic programs in english, world languages (chinese, japanese, spanish, french, latin, and hawaiian), health education, history, mathematics, performing arts, physical education, religion, science and athletics. There is an active student activities office and each april, 'iolani holds a two-day community fair providing an opportunity to raise funds to support student travel initiatives. Student travel is a large part of the 'iolani experience as well, providing hands-on experiences with different cultures and opportunities for developing global citizens. Some programs include: theater students performing at the edinburgh fringe festival in scotland, the orchestra performing at the london invitational series, college tours to the east and west coasts, economics team competing in new york city in the national economics bowl, and a weeklong exchange program with tsinghua high school in beijing, china. 'iolani students are seen as leaders in the community and are dedicated to community service. Student accomplishments include state and national recognition in competitions such as the super science fair, hong kong university real world design competition, math league, speech and debate, robotics, music, art. Ninety-nine percent of seniors attend college, including highly selective universities such as stanford, harvard, yale, new york university, georgetown and others. 'iolani school is accredited by the western association of schools and colleges, and licensed by the hawaii council of private schools.

'iolani offers an extensive summer and after school program with reinforcement, enrichment, elective and credit courses. These courses are open to students from all schools and are available on a first come first serve registration basis. From dance, physical education, art, math, reading, robotics, video game design, sat preparation classes, more than 3,500 students enroll each year in 'iolani's summer and special programs. Many students come from the u. S. Mainland and asia to enroll their children in 'iolani's summer programs, which employs teachers who are employed by 'iolani, other independent schools, and public schools. In addition, the ka'i program is a summer mentoring partnership between 'iolani and jarrett middle school, a neighboring public middle school. The performing arts department at 'iolani offers orchestra, dance (hula, ballet, jazz), stage band, marching band, jazz band, theater, musical theater, and choir. These different disciplines showcase their students' abilities through performances held either on campus or at theaters and other venues in the community. These groups also travel to the mainland and foreign countries to perform. A fall play and spring musical are presented each year. Auditions are open to all students in upper school and, if required by the production, the lower school. Guest artists/teachers visit the school through sponsorship under the tam & young arts chair.

'iolani is a member of the interscholastic league of honolulu (ilh). All participants are expected to fulfill all athletic requirements, to display good sportsmanship, and to follow the program set forth by coaches and the athletic department. There are 17 varsity sports for boys and girls, as well as many sports in the junior varsity and intermediate grade levels. For the lower grade levels, 'iolani participates in the christian schools athletic league for basketball and volleyball. There are also opportunities for youngsters to participate in intramural sports. The campus hosts numerous athletic tournaments and sporting events, which schools and teams from across the state and around the world participate. Some examples of how the school shares its resources include: the 'iolani classic basketball tournament, state forensics tournament, 'iolani invitational cross country meet, hawaii educational summit, and many more.

college counseling