First Hand Knowledge? (Hilo, Pahoa: mortgage, house, buyer)

[gracie09]

Do any of you have children enrolled in any of the following schools:WHEA,(West Hawaii Explorations Academy) HAAS,(Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science) or Kona Pacific Charter?
I would be most interested in hearing about your first hand experiences. We were very excited to find schools that focus on personal growth & responsibility, environmental awareness, & hands on learning. As well as the close knit sense of community & involvement that seem to be so integral.
But, I have been researching our impending move for months on this forum and most of what I read tells me to be weary of whether these options may be to good to be true.
Any information you may have would be most appreciated.
Mahalo,
Gracie

[mdand3boys]

Gracie,

Kona and Pahoa are a long ways apart from each other! Do you know where you will be living?

What grade(s) are you looking at? We are trying for the charter school route as well. However, most of them are already full and have waiting lists.

HAAS charter school does have an accelerated program for 5th and 6th graders called REAL Class. Real Class
There are 2 openings for 6th grade next year (but many for 5th). Admission is competitive, not by lottery. Our 6th grader is in the process applying and I believe he will be in.

Do you have a current TB test results? Do you have a copy of school transcripts? The charter schools seem to require an address - kinda tough to get before you move! Also, school starts in most schools on July 30th this year.

[KonaKat]

I have friends with kids at WHEA. Only one had negative comments. Your child must be very self motivated and need little supervision to excel here. Once I chatted with a 15 year old boy who went there, and he admitted that he had to tranfer back to public HS every few semesters to catch up on his math.

I also have a friend with children at Innovations and she is very happy with that school.

When do you arrive on Big Island, and where will you be living? (Or, maybe you are here already?)

[gracie09]

Appreciate all the info. We were supposed to be on Island already but, my father in-law had a heart attack & stroke in rapid succession, (driving 40 miles daily to help with care) and then the buyer for our house could not get mortgage etc etc...nightmare.

My husband is a G-MAN so location is not critical. I know the schools are scattered all over the island as well, which is why I want as much info as possible before we choose one. We have 3 children 11 (6th gr.), 9 (4th gr.) & 6 (1st gr.) My favorite schools from a distance are HAAS & Connections. But, I have learned first hand that how a place looks on paper does not always bear any resemblence to reality, and even/especially statistics and test scores can be meaningless. Besides, my husband is not sure he would love the Hilo rain long term. My 11 year old was actually the one who first talked to us about trying WHEA but my hesitation comes from being concerned about exactly the issues you mentioned. I am not concerned so much about motivation but I definitely worry that he does not yet have the organizational skills to keep himself on track.

Anyway, at this rate, I am very concerned that we will be waiting another year again before the move because we just won't be able to pull it together fast enough. Government may not pay the big bucks but, if you stay with em' long enough you have some wiggle room in these things. Thank G-D.

Do you know, is it ever the case that space remains available even after the start of the year, say in October? I know, I must seem to want it all...

Mahalo
Gracie

[mdand3boys]

At multiple charter schools, at least for 1st-8th grade ones, they are full with long waiting lists. RealClass is the odd one out because of the competition to get in in the first place. High schools seem to have some openings, here and there and getting any child into a charter school helps the other siblings get in the next year.

[gracie09]

Mahalo,
I'll give a call to the school directly beginning next week. We have a slew of information ready to go from health records to gifted testing results. We are investigating homeschool cirricululi to bridge the gap just in case. The way things are looking now, we won't be there before October.
We are considering putting in for the option to wait until next year but I am not looking forward to prolonging the process & am really thinking this may be a nightmare for the children.

Gracie

[mdand3boys]

I did come across a slew of what seems to be good home schooling programs, available through either the state or local school complexes, even charter schools. I think the one program was based upon attending class via computer, from home, but doing activities with the rest of the class when they went off-site. We just won't be able to do it due to both of us working.

[gracie09]

I have been investigating connections on-line academy which uses k12 but have gotten no feed back from the education gurus. Am also very fond of Charlotte Mason method but it definitely does not come with cirriculum package also, my husband is Jewish and does not want me to include bible study in the mix, and most homeschooling communities that use her method are christian based. Should have been a teacher...

I'm really so impressed with the charter school approach. I guess you've got to want it bad.

Funny, when I was a kid my parents bought me a new pair of shoes, some freshly sharpened pencils and sent me on my way. Why can't it be like that anymore?

gracie

[mdand3boys]

We live in a rural area, near Peoria and there are a large number of home schooled kids, even though the school district is quite good. My middle one just graduated from 8th (7th in his class) and there are many of his friends that didn't start in the "real school" until the last year or two. The area has a large population of Apostolic Christians - almost Mennonite or Amish to some degree. Very quiet, unassuming people that work hard and take education very seriously and do not ever try to push their beliefs upon others. Most of the rural high schools around the area always have 5+ of the top 10 having been home schooled during the 1st thru 8th grades or thereabouts.

[gracie09]

I suppose a large part of it is a confidence issue. How do you know that you are covering everything they need thoroughly, how do you make sure they are meeting all their grade level markers and your records are in order for when they transition, especially when you have more than one child and more than one learning style to consider...that sort of thing. We will never be able to afford for me to not work at least half time so some of it is certainly logistics as well. Some days it can seem a bit overwhelming. I have considered catholic school more than once but, my DH does not want to upset his family. Just trying to do what's best for everyone and very often finding myself trying not to mortgage the needs of one person for those of another.

BTW I thought the Amish did not continue their education past the 8th grade, is this a myth?