Curriculum

In our ever-changing, rapidly-paced society, an imperative skill to sharpen is the ability to balance and integrate work and play, indoor and outdoor time and activities, speaking and listening, technology and nature, mind and body. Our students spend time outdoors engaging in activities like gardening, body movement class, dance, focused outdoor activities, creative work, music, and mana classes. Due to our ethnically and culturally diverse student body, the students hone their skills in listening to each others’ ideas and giving of their own positive feedback in a constructive way, leading to positive outcomes for the group as a whole. We infuse technology into our curriculum to access information, facilitate communication, and learn to set healthy tech-boundaries. Each class will have their own garden in addition to tending to the school’s community garden, teaching the students how to live sustainably, to practice the different techniques required to grow various fruits and vegetables, and other gardening skills like building fences and rock walls. In another imperative area of balance students will learn early on to quiet their minds. We will hold an all school mediation everyday. Students will learn and habituate the benefits of meditation such as deep relaxation, inspirational ideas, and a sharpening of their intuition. 

Living on Maui, students have amazing access to a deeply rooted culture. The culture and kuleana of care taking the land is not just the responsibility of the Hawaiians to perpetuate, but to all who choose to make this place their home. There is great wisdom and beauty unique to our native Hawaiian language not found anywhere else in the world that feeds the souls of people who speak it. By rooting our children here, we are providing them with a strong foundation and sense of who they are. This enables children to become adults who can thrive anywhere in the world. The old cultural history and stories both from Hawai`i and around the world will be shared during morning skills learning time and countless lessons and wisdoms will be shared. Field trips will be taken to different parts of our island to learn the different stories and offerings of that place. Students will learn what activities happened there and acquire some new skills like sledding, surfing, hiking and gathering to name a few. Children will learn the old farming practices of the Hawaiians as well as more modern, efficient farming techniques. An appreciation of both will be developed, but the most important outcome will be the connection with the land. Once that connection is formed, we will have a generation fighting to keep Maui, Maui. All the while learning the wisdoms of all cultures, having a deep appreciation and acceptance in noticing the similarities and differences. This deep appreciation will allow them thrive wherever they may end up in the world.