A private school that's scheduled to open its doors for the first time in the Kapolei region in the fall is hoping to draw the brightest of students.

Founders of the American Renaissance Academy will emphasize a rigorous, individualized college-preparatory regimen for its students, as well as athletics and fine arts, said school director Bernadette Ortiz-Brewster.

American Renaissance students will also participate in Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth and eventually be able to earn college credits by taking courses designed by the Palo Alto-based institution.

Jo Ann Shogan, assistant director of school programs for EPGY, said American Renaissance's use of the Stanford program is more integral than it has been at any other U.S. school.

"We have our program in many schools, but the way American Renaissance Academy is going to use it as a really large part of the program is kind of a new thing for us," Shogan said. "They're going to really make it an integral part of their program as opposed to something that's just added on."

A permanent location has not yet been selected and is at least 18 months away; a temporary site has been found on former Navy facilities at Kalaeloa.

American Renaissance is headed up by several people with ties to Island Pacific Academy, the largest nondenominational private school in West O'ahu which itself opened just three years ago.

"We wanted to create another school that is a lot smaller with an emphasis on gifted and talented children so we went ahead and made a partnership with Stanford University and its gifted and talented youth program," said Ortiz-Brewster, who until recently was IPA's director of technology and before that taught at Punahou School for 10 years.

The school will open with 56 students in grade levels K-9, Ortiz-Brewster said. At full buildout, American Renaissance will have no more than 16 students per grade with a student-teacher ratio of no greater than 12-to-1.

The school day will be longer than most: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. That's to allow the students to get a martial arts course, a swimming program, a gymnastics class and a music class "all within the school day," Ortiz-Brewster said. "It's going to be one-stop shopping."

LOOKING FOR A HOME

The school is negotiating for a five-acre parcel in Kapolei, including one near the upcoming North-South Road and University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu.

Meanwhile, it will begin classes out of a renovated gymnasium at the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station in Kalaeloa that's been leased out to Hope Chapel. The 14,000-square-foot facility has a pool next to it as well as 20 acres for a tennis court and other sports facilities.

"They got the lease and they needed help with the rent," Ortiz-Brewster said, noting that the church needs the facilities only on Sundays and two weekday nights.

The school is chipping in for renovations to the building at a cost of about $10,000. "We're just mostly putting in walls and new floors and decorating," she said.

Plans for the permanent facility include a large athletic complex with an indoor track, a weight room, racquetball courts and an Olympic-sized pool, a main classroom school building and a performing arts facility.

Future plans also call for an exclusive athletic club similar to the Pacific Club in downtown Honolulu, a boutique hotel and a dormitory for students.

The financial muscle behind American Renaissance is the family of Kenneth Tanazaki, an investor and developer living in Waikele who co-signed the original $6 million IPA construction loan.

Kelly Tanazaki, Kenneth Tanazaki's daughter and the mother of four children, two of whom will be attending American Renaissance this fall, said her family and IPA have a friendly difference in educational philosophies.

"We were looking for something smaller, our older son had attended private schools on the Mainland for gifted and talented kids," she said. "So we thought maybe we should start something on our own. It's something we wanted for our own children."

American Renaissance will be different, she said. "We're unique in the sense that we'll have every child taking a grade-appropriate math course, but in addition, also taking a Stanford mathematics course," she said.

ROOM FOR 2

Leaders from both IPA, which has grown from about 230 students its first year to about 550 this past year, and the upstart American Renaissance say there is no rivalry or ill feelings.

Island Pacific Academy headmaster Dan White said he welcomes the new school and wishes the new institution well. When he and others first started planning for Island Pacific, he said, a survey showed there were 75,000 school-age children between Aloha Stadium and Wai'anae.

"That suggests there's a lot of room for lots of schools out here," White said. " ... If you view the public and private as all part of a system of schools, the public sector simply cannot build schools fast enough to meet demand. Just in terms of the number of seats that are available, anything that adds to capacity is a good thing."

Roberta Bishop, executive director of the Hawai'i Council of Private Schools, said her organization is considering a license application from American Renaissance.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.