NY —> Hawaii: Two teachers looking for advice... Maui/Big Island (Hilo: for rent, insurance)

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by ar1ax

Yeah I can see that perspective as well-- perhaps more space with curriculum & not having to adhere to the same policies that make public education difficult at times.

My experience is private schools Offer less flexibility.
Students are picked at a private school. Parents pay money. You won't have the SES range of a public school.

[85rx-7gsl-se]

Originally Posted by ar1ax

Yeah I can see that perspective as well-- perhaps more space with curriculum & not having to adhere to the same policies that make public education difficult at times.

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

My experience is private schools Offer less flexibility.
Students are picked at a private school. Parents pay money. You won't have the SES range of a public school.

I think you are both right in a sense. Private schools can allow an escape from the bureaucracy often found in public educational systems. The students also tend to be different since parents are, in addition to taxes, paying good money so their kids get an education. This can be good as the parents have an even greater vested interest in their kids education. The bad is when the school's administration treats the tuition as a license for the kids to do whatever they want. It varies school to school. Private schools are also often times parochial, which is attractive to teachers who hold to the same religious faith.

[hotzcatz]

Pauuilo is a public school, isn't it?

Laupahoehoe is a charter but they have to allow students in the area to attend if they want to since they took over the building from the DOE, I think.

[ar1ax]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Pauuilo is a public school, isn't it?

Laupahoehoe is a charter but they have to allow students in the area to attend if they want to since they took over the building from the DOE, I think.

Pauuilo IS a public school (thank you for catching that!) I think we're going to pursue public primarily. I am officially Hawaii certified (as of a few days ago) & am very excited for the months to go by & for the ball to start rolling. Still reading a ton & absorbing as much info as possible before summertime!

[GraceKrispy]

Congrats on your Hawai'i certification! That's great and will make you look more serious to potential employers.

[ar1ax]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

Congrats on your Hawai'i certification! That's great and will make you look more serious to potential employers.

Thank you! I'm hoping so too. Is there anything else we can do to make us look more serious? I know living on-island makes us look more serious, but that's not really an option because we aren't going to move until/unless one of us has a job offer because it seems too risky. Also-- what about subbing? It's about $160/day which seems great...would you say there are regular sub jobs in the North Big Island area? I'm trying to gauge whether it's feasible for one of us to sub full-time.

[ar1ax]

Thought I'd offer a little update! We are both scheduled for an intake interview on the mainland & are both Hawaii certified. Nervous but excited at the prospect. We're researching the Big Island (especially North Kona) as a whole as I want to be prepared in case there aren't availabilities in the Northern regions. Any advice about Kona would be great. I don't think we want to consider South Kona (lots of VOG from what I've read.)

What are the main differences between Waimea & Kona?

[hotzcatz]

Kona is hot, dry, has more vog and a lot of folks on vacation. Waimea has a dry side as well as a wet side and a more at home population. Less tourists, but still enough of them. Cooler temperatures in Waimea.

More big box shopping stores in Kona, not sure why they need them all but they're there. Waimea is smaller, Kona (and by the word 'Kona', I'm suspecting you mean the town of Kailua-Kona and not the District of Kona?) anyway, Kailua town in the Kona district is spread out more with more industrial areas as well as the touristy area.

Try Google Street view to get an idea of the differences.

[ar1ax]

Thank you! Yes, I'm referring to Kailua-Kona & anything north of it but still in the Kona District. We're also researching the Puna district & specifically Pahoa. I've read a lot about Puna and most of it has been bad...referencing the lack of infrastructure, crime rate, and general wild-wild-west-ness of it. I'm sure there are upsides to Puna...so...what are they? It seems like the affordability & lushness is the biggest upside, but what else? Also, are the mosquitoes unbearable? That's part of what's really deterring me from the Hilo side.

[hotzcatz]

'North', that would be towards Waimea, wouldn't it? North doesn't mean much on this island since it's round.

Part of Pahoa's problems are lava. Last year the lava almost ate the highway. The only highway and the only access road in and out of the area. The County was busy working on some alternate routes, but if the lava had continued (it got within several hundred feet of the highway and then stopped) and gone on down to the ocean, then the alternate route would have been eaten, too. Which means the route to Hilo (the source of many supplies and services) would have then been several hours each way by going up through Volcano National Park.

Most of Puna/Pahoa's upside is that it is affordable. It isn't really 'lush' since there's no soil under the greenery. There's some ocean access areas, but not the big white sandy beaches of the Kohala coast. Most of Puna is on a fairly flat slope so there's no real ocean views, although the flatness is good (it's easier to mow a flat yard than one on a slope) if you don't mind the loss of views.

Mosquitoes are pretty fierce when you first move over here then after about six months they will be a lot less ferocious, not sure why that is. The whole dengue fever thing seems to be over now, there haven't been any new cases for awhile.

Usually, when they offer you a teaching position, don't they give you several different schools to choose from? I'm married to a teacher and there were several selections at the time of hire when we moved to this island. We'd been on Oahu previously so there was some seniority since it's a statewide system. The options we had to choose from was between Kealakehe over in the Kona District and Honokaa. At the time we were on vacation on the mainland and weren't able to visit before choosing. This was also before Google Earth, even. Either one would have worked, but we chose Honokaa because it wasn't as touristy and hot and it was a bit more affordable.

As for a new teacher coming over from the mainland, Pahoa wouldn't be a school I'd recommend, nor Keaau. If I were a teacher coming over from the mainland, schools I'd choose would be Laupahoehoe (due to really small class sizes and nice area to live), Pauuilo (for the same reasons), anywhere 'North' (ha! I looked it up!) of Hilo. Kohala might be nice, although it's a bit remote but it's a nice established area.

Hilo itself would be good, although the schools would be bigger and probably larger class sizes.

If you have a two teacher income or a teacher/substitute income, you should be able to pretty much do well anywhere on the island. Well, other than the fancy gates estates sort of places off over in the Kona district. Considering how much nicer life is when you're not surrounded by a lot of petty theft and crime, heading towards the slightly more expensive parts of the island (which have a lot less crime) might provide you with a nicer life.