This school should be better. Despite fairly high test…read morescores, the experience here falls far short of what families should expect. Hawaii's schools rank in the bottom third nationally, and in our two years here this "highly rated" school felt closer to a 3/10 compared to mainland standards. The main issue is poor leadership that prioritizes staff convenience over student experience. Most problems could be solved with stronger leadership and genuine care for families. There is no parent-teacher organization, leading to little accountability or transparency. Leadership resists parent input and improvement with endless excuses. The lack of facilities is unacceptable: no playground or equipment for 1st-5th graders, no multipurpose room for assemblies or plays, and no covered recess space. Children are taken to an empty field with no benches, tables, or shade, and recess ends when it drizzles. Quarterly awards are held in a hallway where parent views are blocked by pillars and under tarps. Some grades have only one recess, with no lunch playtime, and physical activity is sometimes withheld as punishment. Most students eat outside under tarps. There is no on-campus A+ afterschool program, leaving few options for working families. The curriculum is bare. No foreign language or music education is offered. Technology is underutilized, limited to standardized testing and drills rather than creative or project-based work. Homework is minimal and uninspiring, tests are returned weeks late, and the pace seems set for the slowest learners. Hawaiian studies lacked rigor--no graded work was returned, and a year of lessons consisted mostly of storytelling. Overall, children are not challenged with projects, teamwork, or creativity. Parental engagement is minimal. Parents are rarely welcomed to events, and only one was allowed when invited. Open house is reduced to teachers writing their names on the board rather than presenting their teaching style or curriculum. The school motto emphasizes behavior and conformity over curiosity and growth. Annual fundraising subsidizes field trips rather than addressing critical facility gaps. The campus is tiny yet holds 700+ students. On the positive side, classrooms have air conditioning, the children are generally well behaved, and the office staff are kind and helpful. Families deserve better. Leadership must shift from "doing the minimum" to creating an environment where children thrive academically, socially, and creatively.

We absolutely love this school! My son will be heading into first grade this year and we are so…read morelucky to be a part of this wonderful program! Cannot wait until both boys are there next year! Thank you for taking such good care of my son!

This is an awesome elementary school for grades junior K thru the 5th grade…read more One of the first high tech schools in Mililani. Yes, they use iPads too!! Very clean, well organized and the staff from teachers, custodians, educational assistants & administrative operations, do an excellent job in making this school a blue ribbon school. Every morning & afternoon, various staff help to load & unload the children in & out of the vehicles at drop off & pick up. Organized and so much safer for everyone! The curriculum more than meets the standard, in fact it surpasses it. With having had experience at the rival school, Momilani Elem. in Pearl City, I feel that Mililani Mauka is better prepared to teach all children, wether your child excels or is the average child. You don't sense favoritism or prejudice. Everyone is treated equally. And each staff member involved with your child is attentive and caring towards them and their needs. I can go on and on, but I'll stop here. This is a top school and my children are happy here and are proud to attend this school!!

Okay. I gave them a chance but this is getting out of hand. I don't know about other parents but…read morethis is not okay for me. When a kid makes a mistake, I understand that you should do something to punish them but stop kids from having snacks and make a kid lay their heads on the table while everyone eats is not okay. One of the teachers seem like she doesn't like my kid and it's obvious.

Love love this school. Helpful staff. The children have very happy environment to learn in. The…read moreschool always have some activity planned to involve family and students.

Friendly staff members, teachers, and students…read more I visited today and saw that the first graders had Japanese class! That's so cool! They have 20-25 minutes of Japanese every week.

Great school and staff. My student has been here for 1st and 2nd grade and through the pandemic…read morewhich was challenging but the teachers were very helpful and available to help us. My child is currently a student and the principal keeps us well informed.

Very mean teachers especially 5th grade ones, my student came crying because of a teacher in E7,…read moreshe said very mean stuff to her and made her do stuff she did NOT want to do. Then her friend also said that this teacher in E8 was very very strict and mean that if they did the wrong move or move a muscle then detention or principals office.

Centrally located and in the heart of Mililani near the high school lies Hanalani. Our family is…read moreinterested in joining the Royals but I have heard very great things about this school from the staffing and class ratios to tuition rate to location and the academic success of the community of students and their families that call this school home. I love how organized their craft fairs are as we are veteran vendors here noting this as one of our favorite craft fairs of the year!

Great location, faith-based environment, and really truly an 'ohana! We love Hanalani School and…read moreall that they offer the students and the families. The teachers and staff truly care about their students - academically, spiritually, and emotionally. We truly feel blessed to be a part of the Hanalani 'Ohana.

Mililani 'Ike is one of the top ranked elementary schools on island. A lot of families request for…read moregeographical exemptions to send their kids here with the expectations that their children will receive top notch education. The campus is relatively new, well maintained, and all buildings, with the exception of the cafeteria, are air conditioned. There is plenty nearby street parking and parking across the street at Mililani Rec 7. However, the school is focused only on their ratings and advanced curriculum, not on the student as individuals. It is a common practice for teachers to repeatedly keep students in for recess to complete class assignments AND not communicate this with parents. Even after parents repeatedly request to allow their children to have recess-for a break, so that they can enjoy school, and to learn how to socialize with their peers-students are still kept in for recess. If a student is repeatedly having difficulty completing class work, parents should be notified and the student should be assessed for any underlining learning disabilities. Further, if multiple students in the same class are unable to complete classwork, the teacher should be evaluated for their teaching abilities. Multiple teachers take extended leaves of absence in the middle of the school year which negatively affects the students' learning. When I registered this complaint with the principal she simply nodded her head, smiled, and said "well, we hoped for a smooth transition." This is pretty much the same response when registering any complaint with the principal. She simply smiles and nods her head . When multiple parents register the same concern, she will hold a mass meeting for the parents and then turn the tables around and ask the parents to step up. For example, a few years ago there were 3 different incidences when vehicles drove in front of the school and took pictures of the student; the principal ultimately rejected parents' demands for a locked campus, security cameras, and security guards. Instead she asked parents to volunteer to patrol the campus for safety. When parents registered multiple complaints about the lack of a cross guard and safety of the children crossing without one, she asked parents to work as a crossing guard. While the principal is very soft spoken and passive aggressive, the majority of the teachers are short on patience, yell in the class, and speak down to children...even before the school day starts! The student body is LARGE, yet shrinking due to multiple families withdrawing their children and enrolling them in private schools. Due to the large student body, school events (i.e. School assemblies where children receive achievement awards, open house events, and concerts) either exclude families or ask that only parents attend and not siblings. Despite all, I still rated Mililani 'Ike as 2 stars because it is a nice campus and there is a pocketful of teachers that truly care. Just cross your fingers that your child is assumed to one of them....and that they don't request a lengthy leave of absence in the middle of the school year.

My daughter attended kindergarten here, and boy was it a rough year! Her teacher was the most…read moreunfriendly, sad looking kindergarten teacher I've ever seen. No warmth in her body or voice whatsoever. No hugs, no high fives, nothing! My daughter had trouble adjusting because of this. She got herself into some trouble when she pushed a classmate and got detention in the office where she had to sit with one of the VP's and write and draw pictures of what she did and why it was wrong. Thinking back on it (she's in 3rd grade now) I think that was too harsh for a 5 year old, and I wish I would've stepped in and said/done something. Several times I considered moving my daughter to a different class, but I didn't know if that would do more harm then good. After kindergarten We moved into the Mililani Waena school district so my daughter attended both 1st and 2nd grade there. Let me tell you that school rocked! There was such a feeling of Ohana at that school, everyone was friendly and down to earth. There was so much happiness and life there. Kids were allowed to be kids, laugh, run around, play. The curriculum was awesome too, and my daughter thrived there. I loved Her 1st grade teacher, Ms. Brewer. She was smart and fun and i enjoyed helping her in the classroom. The principal was great. You could really tell he cared about the kids and the school. He even was nice enough to work with me and put my daughter in the same class as her friend to help her adjust. They had an awesome website that was consistently updated and current. Sorry I could go on and on about how awesome that school was, but back to Ike now.... So we moved (yes AGAIN lol) , back to the Ike district where like i mentioned earlier my daughter is in 3rd grade now. As soon as we got back there I remembered why i didn't like it 2 years earlier. Everyone walks around like robots, no one talks, there's an eerie quietness on campus. The principal is very quiet and kind of awkward. Their website was so outdated. There were pics on there from years ago, and hardly any current information. I ended up writing in about how bad it was and it's since been updated. At the open house I was one of the last ones there and I felt rushed by the teacher, not a great first impression. She didn't try at all to get to know me or my daughter. So needless to say the year didn't start off in the best way. There's way too much computer homework. Wednesdays there's no regular classroom instruction because the kids bounce around from PE to music to language and so on. Oh and field trips are expensive! I found out it's because enrollment has dropped so drastically which has caused funding to drop as well, so us parents get stuck paying the price. (I should say my older daughter attended 2nd-5th grade here and had a great experience with Ms. Cupp (now Mrs. Laughlin and Ms. Kawai (now Mrs. Nakagawara) and Ms. Okamura.). Teachers can make or break it for the kids they come in contact with, and Ike definitely lacks great teachers, it's sad. I've never been a teacher, and i can only imagine what a tough tough job it is, but it just makes sense that you should have a warmth and a compassion for kids. You should be fun and happy and make your kids say "she's (he's) the best teacher ever! I hope I didn't offend anyone with this post, but I had to be honest. Oh and i just had to add in that the teachers have a lot of teacher work days which means no school for the kids, plus a lot of meetings which means a lot of substitutes, plus school ends 1 hour and 25 minutes early every Wednesday for meetings! Not really sure why....hmmmm? Seems like an excess for sure!

My son has been attending this school for three years now and my daughter just started her first…read moreyear. So far I am pleased with how the school is run and appreciate the follow through the VP took when I contacted the school regarding an incident that happened between my daughter and another student. The school enforces a strict dress code, which I appreciate. My kids elementary school had a dress code that was never enforced. The drop off and pick-up can be a struggle sometimes but that is to be expected with most schools. The one thing that I absolutely despise is the track system. For those of you unfamiliar let me explain. Since Mililani has 5 elementary schools and 1 middle school there isn't enough space for all the children to be in school at the same time. Therefore they have 4 color tracks that always have 3 colors on and 1 color off at any given time. It can be a real pain when you have another child in elementary or high school and get one of the tracks that schedule is completely opposite. Thankfully they are expanding the school and will do away with the track system by the year 2020.

The leadership at this school is trash. Almost every week my kids came home telling me about a…read morefight at school between the kids and staff. When picking up my kids I would see kids fighting at the park next to the school almost every month! No security guards, teachers, nothing to stop it and when I called the school they said they would send security up they didn't. Even parents just sitting in their cars watching! Apparently because it's off campus they can't do anything, well even your presence would deter kids from fighting! My kids would come home of stories of kids doing drugs, smoking, and having sex in bathrooms. Where the hell is leadership?! The leadership here is weak and that's why the kids don't respect the rules or the school, and do what they want to. The principal is terrible he denied our GE because that's his "default" policy to deny everyone and put them on a waitlist and wanted to kick our kids out with only 3 months left of school! When we challenged that decision he reluctantly allowed them to stay till the end of the school year, but not before contacting my other son's elementary school up the road to let them know of the address change. (Pretty sure sharing other people's information like that is illegal, but whatever). What's sad is this school has so much potential to be a really good school. They have so much to offer kids in terms of extra curricular activities, but their leadership is so bad! Why even have like 7 VP's?! They should all be replaced. They are doing the kids a disservice with their lack of support and enforcement.

We have 11 of my family members that have attended this school. Absolutely safe and respectful…read moreatmosphere. Send your kid to this school.

Kanoelani Elementary School is a very friendly, safe, and clean public school. The principal,…read moreteachers, and staff are friendly. When the staff sees you on campus they are always very friendly saying hi, and asking if you need any help at all. My two girls goes to this school and they love their teachers, and the school in general. The school has air conditioning in every room too.

My daughters have been coming here for 4 years now. They look forward to school every day…read more The small campus is like an extended family. I appreciate how they speak Hawaiian every day in their morning protocol. All the Kumu give a 110%. The principal, Amanda Fung, truly cares about the students and is easy to reach and communicate with. They have after school clubs and my kids have learned how to knit, sew and dance hula. We also love the community events they have like the trunk or treat and spring carnival. We invite our neighbors and family friends to join in on the fun. They also have a great broadcast club where the keiki work with Olelo. I'm very thankful to have this charter school, the only one in central O'ahu, so close to my home. I have four kids and hope my other two can attend when they are in elementary school.

My child has been attending Kamalani Academy for more than a year now and I have to say how…read moregrateful, as a parent, I am to have found this wonderful charter school alternative to Hawaii's Department of Education (DOE). Kamalani has the feel of a private school and their teachers and staff strive to enrich my child's education and development. Led by principal Amanda Fung, the school prides itself on creating opportunities and partnerships in the community designed to benefit our students and staff. Although I live in Kapolei, taking the daily trio to Kamalani Academy it's a small price to pay to make sure my son gets an advantage in his education and his mentality for when he becomes an adult committed to doing good in his community. The pandemic pushed us to explore new education options for a child and we are so grateful to have found this school where individuals work hard to raise up our students in the true spirit of aloha. Mahalo Kamalani Academy and all the staff for everything they have done, where we all continue to work hard for our kids to excel.

Our kids were homeschooled up until January this year, when we decided to put them into Ho'ala…read moreSchool in Wahiawa, HI. They are a private school (only K-8th), but I have found that their tuition is lower compared to others on the island. They also give a military discount. As someone who has worked in education, I was very skeptical about the school. But our kids have been happy- they want to be in school, and that means everything to me. They are a microschool, so they combine classes (which is what I was mainly skeptical of). But I have seen that the kids all work well together, and the teachers are super organized in helping students at their level. So, if you are considering transitioning from homeschool to a traditional school (or just wanting a school that focuses on the whole child) - consider Ho'ala.

Adorable little school that has been amazing for our girls!…read more Though Hoala doesn't look like much on the outside, the inside is full of color and character! The teachers truly care about their students, and our daughters have flourished! I'm SO happy we decided to try Hoala when we PCSed here!