LIHU‘E — Island School is excited to announce the blessing of the construction site for phase 1 of its New Classroom Building project. Building a large, new classroom building is the next step in fulfilling a long-term development plan for Island School’s Puhi campus that calls for serving 500 students.
LIHU‘E — Island School is excited to announce the blessing of the construction site for phase 1 of its New Classroom Building project. Building a large, new classroom building is the next step in fulfilling a long-term development plan for Island School’s Puhi campus that calls for serving 500 students.
Island School is the only accredited independent nonprofit college preparatory school on Kaua‘i for pre-kindergarten through high school. School enrollment for 2016 surpassed the 390-capacity of Island School’s current physical plant. Since then, the school has been addressing space constraints with various workable, temporary solutions. The Board of Directors and administrative leadership, with input from staff and a committee with outside experts in planning, design, construction, and infrastructure, have studied Island School’s needs and the school’s long-range plans.
They have explored national trends in learning strategies and best practices for classroom design. The result is a first-rate plan that fits the needs of the school now and into the future. The plan specifies constructing and outfitting a sturdy two-story building with six flexibleuse classrooms plus a “maker space” designed for “deeper learning” course work.
Construction of the building would add 10,488 square feet of learning space to the campus. Island School has selected Cushnie Construction Company, Inc. to complete the site work for the New Classroom Building. Construction of the New Classroom Building will enable Island School to quickly implement all the coursework priorities it set in 2016 including:
• Add engineering classes;
• Expand the technology curriculum;
• Add to a set of certified advanced placement classes for high school students; and
• Offer several “deeper learning” opportunities where students can explore, solve, discover, and innovate.
The school will also be able to welcome more community groups and more all-island learning teams to its campus. The New Classroom Building will position Island School to become an even stronger part of a package of resources for Kaua‘i residents and for new families who are attracted to business opportunities on Kaua‘i. In those ways and others, completion of this project will boost Island School’s capacity to contribute to the well-being of the Kaua‘i community.
