They thought they were home.

In 2004, after moving three times in three years, the principal and teachers at Halau Ku Mana Charter School were ready to settle down — and they thought they had found a bit of permanency at Paradise Park in Manoa Valley.

Soon, administrators started to discuss expansion plans and curriculum development. Students painted large murals on the walls, planted ti leaf and taro gardens and cleared out a dilapidated nursery for seedlings.

Then, this June, came the eviction notice: The public charter school would have to be out of the park by the end of December. For Halau Ku Mana, which enrolls 100 mostly low-income Native Hawaiian children, the news was devastating.

Once again, the little school would have to put its future on hold to deal with the present. In the middle of this school year, teachers will be packing up books, furniture and files, and moving to a new site, which has yet to be found.

"Obviously, it will be hard to leave," said principal Keola Nakanishi. "We have been very successful with our students thus far, despite frequent moves. For example, many students improve drastically in their GPA and reading levels in just one year. We hope that moving midyear ... will not interfere with that success."

Though Nakanishi still has no new place for the school, he does have a few good leads. One thing he definitely wants in a new place is a long-term lease.

Halau Ku Mana opened its doors in August 2001, employing a hands-on curriculum designed for children who don't succeed in mainstream schools.

For five hours a day, students work on a hands-on project — like building and sailing a double-hulled canoe or planting and harvesting lo'i — which lasts for a year and incorporates core subjects into a real-world setting.

Students also participate in "playshops," which act as elective classes and range from Hawaiian art to playwriting. The school also places a big emphasis on volunteering, with a 16-hour minimum requirement per student a year.

Its radical approach has gotten Halau Ku Mana accolades and results.

In their first year, students at the school often show improvement in their grades, attendance and comprehension. They also start getting enthusiastic about school, Nakanishi said, and most of the school's 23 graduates have gone on to attend community colleges or universities to study everything from engineering to English.

"Our students do not just get muddy and dance hula," Nakanishi said. "Before they come, these students wouldn't have dreamed about going to college."

Many of the students at the school live in Maunalaha and Papakolea. A few commute from Mayor Wright Homes in Kalihi and from as far away as Wai'anae. What worries Nakanishi more than moving is losing students in the move. If they move too far from Manoa, he says, the school will undoubtedly have students who are unable to get to class. Many of his students, he added, take buses to get to school.

If anything has restricted Halau Ku Mana's growth over the years, it is its lack of a permanent place — not a lack of interest.

Since it opened, Nakanishi said, the school's waiting list has been as long as its enrollment roster.

Halau Ku Mana was first housed at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, sharing space with the Hawaiian studies program. In 2002, it moved half of its campus and students to the Atherton YMCA. The next year, classes were held at Atherton only.

When it moved to Paradise Park, which is owned by the Wong family, the school agreed to pay utilities and provide maintenance in exchange for paying no rent.

It is unclear what Paradise Park will now be turned into, but crews are renovating parts of the structure. The Wong family did not return a call for comment.

At Halau Ku Mana on a recent afternoon, teachers were gathered in a small computer lab for a curriculum development workshop. Students have the day off, and the school's three classrooms were dark and quiet. The lobby, which doubles as a makeshift classroom, cafeteria and hallway, also was uncharacteristically still.

In the lab, Kawika Mersberg, a science teacher, stood near a whiteboard as his colleagues worked out a new way to teach algebra. They draw stick figures on the board and write "x=surfers." The method will be used to supplement out-of-class learning.

As the teachers took a break, Mersberg talked about his experiences at Halau Ku Mana, which he joined in its first year. Learning at the school, he said, is about hands-on education and building relationships with classmates and teachers.

"Students feel that love and that compassion," he said, speaking over the din of talking teachers. "It's the whole concept of 'ohana, of Hawaiian values."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.