The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in Math. The lowest is 55% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Honaunau Elementary School
Honaunau Elementary School sits along Mamalahoa Highway in Captain Cook, a small rural community on the Kona Coast of Hawaii Island. It is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, part of the Hawaii Department of Education, the statewide district that governs all public schools in the islands. The setting is car-oriented and low-density, with roadside commercial strips and scattered homes rather than a walkable town center. Captain Cook blends residential life with coffee farming and limited tourism. The community sits at an elevation suited to Kona coffee cultivation, and nearby civic anchors include the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, the Kona Coffee Living History Farm, and Rodney J. T. Yano Memorial Hall. Kealakekua Bay and Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park are close by. No public library branch or formal transit system was identified in available sources for Captain Cook itself, so residents typically rely on nearby Kailua-Kona for those services.
The school is small, with enrollment fitting the size typical of a rural elementary campus on Hawaii Island. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the working-class, agricultural character of the surrounding community. The student body is diverse: the largest group identifies as Hispanic, followed by a strong Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander presence, then students of two or more races, a smaller white population, and a small Asian enrollment. Data on English learner status and special education enrollment was not available in the provided records, so those figures cannot be characterized here. A parent interested in those supports may want to ask the school directly.
On state assessments, Honaunau Elementary shows steady, mid-range results. In both math and English language arts, a majority of students across third, fourth, and fifth grades met or exceeded proficiency benchmarks. Science results for fifth grade were similar. Participation was full or near-full across all tested grades. These are solid outcomes for a small, high-need rural school, and they suggest that classroom instruction is reaching most students at grade-level expectations. That said, the tested groups are small in each grade, which means results can shift from year to year with changes in just a handful of students. Only one year of assessment data was available, so no trend over time could be established. A parent looking for longitudinal performance patterns would need to seek that information from the school or the state education department.
Because Honaunau Elementary does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school's grade band also means that pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students are not part of state testing, which is limited to third grade and above.
The housing market in the Captain Cook area is more affordable than the Hawaii statewide benchmark but above the national figure. Home values have shown a modest year-over-year decline. The price-to-income ratio is elevated, which is common across Hawaii and reflects the gap between local wages and real estate costs. Rental data was not available for this area. The community falls within Lava Flow Hazard Zone 2, a designation that can constrain new development and is something prospective residents typically weigh. Captain Cook saw a slight population decline in the most recent census, and no major new housing developments were identified in available sources.
The district brief for the Hawaii Department of Education returned little on recent policy, curriculum, or budget changes of lasting impact, so there is not much to report on district-level shifts that would affect this school specifically.
Honaunau Elementary fits families looking for a small, community-rooted public elementary school in a rural Kona Coast setting, where the student population reflects the cultural mix of the area and where assessment results indicate most students are meeting grade-level standards. The trade-offs are the things that come with rural island life: limited nearby services, dependence on a car, and a housing market that remains expensive relative to income despite being below state levels. For a family already rooted in or drawn to the Captain Cook area, the school appears to be a steady academic option for the early elementary and intermediate grades.
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