LIHU’E — Ten-year-old Lauren Goller, one of about 3,500 students on island who will begin school next week, is looking forward to going to Kapa’a Middle School even though the early start date did cut into her vacation. “It was
LIHU’E — Ten-year-old Lauren Goller, one of about 3,500 students on island who
will begin school next week, is looking forward to going to Kapa’a Middle
School even though the early start date did cut into her vacation.
“It was
so short we couldn’t go on our mainland trip this summer,” she
said.
“That’s OK. We took one last winter,” chimed in her mom, Lynn, who
was helping her daughter pick out items Wednesday on her back-to-school
shopping list at Wal-Mart.
Four Kaua’i schools — Kapa’a Elementary,
Middle, and High schools and Kilauea Elementary — will start on the modified
calendar next Wednesday, nearly a month earlier than other public schools on
island.
The other 12 schools — including the new Chiefess Kamakahelei
Middle School in Puhi which will take sixth graders from several elementary
schools in the area — will begin classes on Aug. 23. Meanwhile, Lauren and
Lynn Goller pored over the sixth-grade supply list, printed on hot pink paper.
Give or take a few sundries, Lynn estimated it’ll cost her about $150 to send
her daughter to school this year. And that’s not so bad.
“Actually, I’m
saving a lot because of the t-shirt uniforms. That’s great,” she said,
referring to Kapa’a Middle School’s dress code. The shirts, at $9 a pop, are
worn four days out of five, thus cutting down on the need for more clothes
shopping.
One or two things on the supply list did puzzle her as she pushed
a shopping cart through the stationary aisle.
“Crayons. I’m not sure why a
sixth-grader needs crayons,” said Lynn Goller.
Especially when those small
items — the three-pack correcting pen set, the three-prong folders, and yes,
the 16-count box of washable crayons — all add up ($1.07, 21 cents and $1.68,
respectively). This aisle alone would run Goller about $30. The rest, including
a combination lock, facial tissues, paper towels, 3.5-inch diskette carrying
case, gym shoes and a flutophone would push the total over $100. That’s not
including off-list items, such as backpacks, calculators, and clothes for aloha
Fridays when the kids don’t have to abide by the uniform rule.
“I’m just
glad I don’t have two” students, Goller said.
Here’s a price list for items
on the Kapa’a Middle School grade-six supply list. Other grades and schools’
items may vary:
* Pencils: $1.67 for a 10-pack (36 are required)
* Red
or blue correcting pens: $1.07 for three (four are required)
* One box of
colored pencils: $5.57
* One box of crayons (washable): $1.68
* One
set of colored markers (washable): $1.27
* One 4-ounce container of glue:
88 cents
* Packs of loose leaf paper: $1.07 for 150 sheets (two packs of
200 or more are required)
* Black and white marble composition tablets
$1.07 (two are required)
* Folders with pockets and three prongs: 21 cents
each (three are required)
* One box of facial tissues: $2.08
* One roll
of paper towels: $2.12
* Combination/or key pad locks: $2.88 (two are
required)
* 3.5-inch diskette carrying case (to hold one or two disks):
$4.50
Staff writer Brandon Sprague can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.
226) or bsprague@pulitzer.net
