OUR SCHOOLS: KONAWAENA MIDDLE SCHOOL

Where: 81-1045 Konawaena School Road, Kealakekua, Hawai'i Intermediate District.

Grade span: Six through eight

Enrollment: 410 students

Race/ethnicity enrollment: Asian/Pacific Islander, 69 percent; Hispanic, 9.5 percent; white, 21 percent; other, .05 percent

Free and reduced-price lunch eligible: 44 percent

Special-education students: 15.7 percent

Computers on campus: 225 computers

Principal: Nancy Soderberg, for 10 years

School nickname: Wave Warriors

School colors: Royal blue and silver

What are you most proud of? "The sense of 'ohana in our school where everyone feels accepted," Soderberg said. "The relationships between teachers, staff and students is strong. People want to be here to work and play together."

What is your biggest challenge? "Continually adjusting to changes that occur in staffing that affects the continuity across the school in the implementation of schoolwide practices."

Special events: Open house, Parent Shadow Day, student dances, Spirit Week, contests, holiday activities, food drive, Adopt a Family, student-led conferences, portfolio assessments, performance assessments such as Ka Honua Maoli and Kulia i Ka Nu'u, science showcase, Mahalo Night for volunteers, Memorial Day lei collection, and fall and spring book fairs.

History: The school began as a school-within-a-school in 1991, when it was still a part of Konawaena High School.

A team of eight teachers interested in providing an environment specifically for the needs of seventh- and eighth-graders moved to one building and two portable classrooms on the campus to carve out a program that included teaming as a way to create a supportive program for students.

A year later, the team and the kids moved to a separate part of the campus that had former teacher cottages that were being used as classrooms.

This allowed for a greater physical separation of the younger students and a more focused approach to implementing the middle school structures.

In 1996, Konawaena Middle School was established as a separate school with 230 seventh- and eighth-graders and its own administration.

Web address: www.konamiddle.k12.hi.us/

Phone: 808-323-4566