Eager students facing tough challenges
Compiled by Suzanne Roig
Where: 16-680 Kea'au-Pahoa Road, Kea'au; Ka'u/Kea'au/Pahoa complex on Big Island.
Grade span: Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade
Enrollment: 760 students, at 96 percent capacity.
Race/ethnicity: Part-Hawaiian, 34 percent; Filipino, 27 percent; Hawaiian, 8 percent; white, 8 percent; other, 23 percent.
Free and reduced-price lunch eligible: 63 percent.
Special education students: 16 percent
Computers: Two computer labs with 30 computers each. Also, in each of Kea'au Elementary's 34 classrooms there is one computer for the teacher and four computers for students.
Principal: Ron Furukawa, two years at Kea'au Elementary.
School nickname: Nene
School colors: Forest green and white.
What are you most proud of? "The willingness and enthusiasm of students to want to learn, and the dedication of the teachers and staff to improve student achievement," Furukawa said.
What is your biggest challenge? "Meeting the annual proficiency expectations, given the diversity of the Kea'au Elementary student population," Furukawa said.
Special events: This month's Kea'au Elementary Chorus Winter Concert, Kea'au Elementary Performing Arts Ensemble spring performance, and Spring Celebration in May. Also, service activities such as Jump Rope for Heart, Click-It or Ticket, school mediators, office and library monitors and lunch room monitors.
History: The school opened at its current site in 1999. Previously, it was combined with Kea'au Middle School as a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school.
Testing: Here's how Kea'au Elementary students fared on the most recently released standardized tests:
Web address: www.keaau.k12.hi.us
Phone: 808-982-4210
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.