{"id":20591,"date":"2026-06-19T16:44:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T02:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=20591"},"modified":"2026-06-19T17:18:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T03:18:57","slug":"hidoe-expands-kaiapuni-program-amid-growing-demand-for-hawaiian-immersion-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/hidoe-expands-kaiapuni-program-amid-growing-demand-for-hawaiian-immersion-education\/","title":{"rendered":"HIDOE expands Kaiapuni program amid growing demand for Hawaiian immersion education"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In response to growing demand for Hawaiian language immersion education, the Hawai\u2018i State Department of Education (HIDOE) has expanded its <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/enrolling-in-school\/hawaiian-immersion-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kaiapuni program<\/a> by adding schools, strengthening teacher recruitment and retention efforts and implementing a new streamlined enrollment process for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/2026-hidoe-announces-new-kaiapuni-priority-placement-process-to-support-growing-demand\/?highlight=kaiapuni\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launch<\/a> of a new priority placement process in February, the HIDOE Office of Hawaiian Education (OHE) successfully placed 367 students in 11 Department Kaiapuni programs for the upcoming 2026-27 school year. An additional 17 students were placed in the State Kaiapuni Distance Learning Program due to limited in-person program capacity on Hawai\u02bbi Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new process aimed to provide a transparent, equitable way for newly enrolling or transferring students to access Kaiapuni education and to provide the Department and schools with data to inform planning. Previously, individual schools managed Kaiapuni enrollment and growth, resulting in inconsistent enrollment practices across campuses and uncertainty for families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe launch of the Kaiapuni Priority Placement Request Process provided baseline data for the Department as we lean into data-informed practices and our ongoing commitment to expanding access to quality Hawaiian immersion education,\u201d HIDOE Office of Hawaiian Education Director Kau\u02bbi Sang said. \u201cThe process generated key data points to be used in a new Kaiapuni Data Dashboard to inform the course for strategic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the new enrollment process, access to Hawaiian immersion education is continuing to expand across the state, guided by the Department\u2019s newly adopted Kaiapuni Strategic Implementation Plan. Progress on strategies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Starting next school year, a new Kaiapuni program will launch at Prince Jonah K\u016bhi\u014d Kalaniana\u02bbole Elementary on Hawai\u2018i Island, increasing the total number of Kaiapuni schools in the HIDOE to 27. Several schools with existing Kaiapuni programs \u2014 including H\u0101na High &amp; Elementary, Kapolei High, Keonepoko Elementary, L\u0101na\u2018i High &amp; Elementary, and Waim\u0101nalo Elementary &amp; Intermediate \u2014 will also be adding grade levels. In the 2025-26 school year, more than 2,600 students were enrolled in HIDOE Kaiapuni programs statewide.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Palapala A\u02bbo K\u016bikaw\u0101 (Hawaiian Teacher Permit) program, managed by OHE in collaboration with the Hawai\u02bbi Teacher Standards Board, has played a significant role in supporting the recruitment and hiring of qualified Kaiapuni teachers. Since the 2017-18 school year, the Palapala A\u02bbo K\u016bikaw\u0101 program has produced 73 permitted teacher candidates, with 63% of those candidates being former Kaiapuni students or graduates. Of those 73 candidates, 27 have transitioned to full-time licensure and 24 of those are currently teaching in a Kaiapuni classroom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The HIDOE continues to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schooljobs.com\/careers\/hawaiipublicschools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">actively recruit<\/a> qualified Hawaiian language immersion teachers, offering an annual $8,000 differential to support the retention and hiring of educators in these roles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAttracting more Kaiapuni students creates a pipeline of qualified teachers to fill positions, changing the narrative of hiring challenges. We have set in place the Palapala A\u02bbo K\u016bikaw\u0101 and it has garnered quality teachers who are familiar with our practices and imbued with the heart of Kaiapuni,\u201d Sang said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The HIDOE is also in the process of developing more rigorous data collection and management processes related to Kaiapuni education for continuous improvement and to inform decisions related to Kaiapuni critical need areas. A dashboard that will include statewide enrollment numbers, metrics and island-specific teacher counts is expected to be available for internal use this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Department provided an <a href=\"https:\/\/boe.hawaii.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/20260618_GBM_KaiapuniImplementation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">update<\/a> at the June 18 Board of Education meeting, focused on Goal 2 (Capacity Development) and Goal 3 (Systems Transformation) of the 2025-29 Kaiapuni Strategic Implementation Plan. These two goals address the availability of qualified teachers and data about Kaiapuni education, which are critical to expanding Kaiapuni education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read about the the Kaiapuni Strategic Implementation Plan <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HIDOE-KSIP-Website.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Palapala Ho\u02bbol\u0101l\u0101 Ka\u02bbak\u0101lai Ho\u02bbok\u014d Kaiapuni<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In response to growing demand for Hawaiian language immersion education, the Hawai\u2018i State Department of Education (HIDOE) has expanded its Kaiapuni program by adding schools, strengthening teacher recruitment and retention efforts and implementing a new streamlined enrollment process for students. Following the launch of a new priority placement process in February, the HIDOE Office of [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":20593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,888,893,1022,1619,1622","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026-05-17-Kekaulike-High-Kaiapuni-Graduation-P3350389-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kimi Takazawa","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/author\/kimi-takazawak12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":332,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":332,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 03:47:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20591"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20598,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20591\/revisions\/20598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/haw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}