Hana High & Elementary School, Hana HI

Original Research by School Decision on Hana High & Elementary School

Hana High and Elementary School sits at the eastern end of Maui, serving a remote rural community that retains what local promoters call the character of Old Hawaii. The school covers pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade under the Hawaii Department of Education, and its enrollment is modest for a campus spanning that many grades. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, with smaller Hispanic, white, and multiracial groups, and very few students in most other categories. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. English-learner and special-education rates were not available in the data provided.

The community around the school is small and isolated. Hana is reachable mainly by the Hana Highway, a long, winding road along Maui's northern shore with many single-lane curves. The town has a sparse commercial area organized around landmarks like Hasegawa General Store, and civic life appears concentrated near the village center rather than on separated campuses. The Hana Public and School Library is a combined facility serving both the school and the public, and the Hana Cultural Center and Museum, the Hana Health Clinic, and Wananalua Congregational Church are nearby. Major employers include the Hana Maui hotel, the school itself, Wai'anapanapa State Park, and local cattle ranches. The economy shifted from sugarcane plantations to tourism and hospitality after the last sugar mill closed. Population peaked during the plantation era, declined, and the area remains relatively free of the development seen on the western side of Maui. No major new housing projects surfaced in the research.

Housing here is expensive relative to national norms, with typical home values well above the national benchmark, though below Hawaii's statewide figure. Estimated monthly mortgage costs are steep, and the price-to-income ratio is high. Rent data was not available. A modest year-over-year decline in home values was recorded. For families considering a move, the cost of housing combined with the area's remoteness is a central practical factor.

State testing results from the most recent year show a school where proficiency rates are low in absolute terms and where each tested grade has only a handful of students, which makes any single year's results volatile. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was very low across third, fifth, seventh, and eighth grades, with fourth and sixth grade results not reported. English language arts results were somewhat higher, with third, fifth, seventh, and eighth grade showing proficiency in the teens to low thirties, and fourth and sixth grade not reported. Science, tested only in fifth and eighth grade, showed a stronger eighth grade result with about half of students proficient, while fifth grade was low. Across all grades combined, math proficiency was low, English language arts was somewhat higher, and science sat in between. Average scale scores were not available. Participation was full wherever testing was reported.

These results are best read in context. With only a dozen or so students tested per grade, a single student's performance shifts the rate considerably, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what supports are in place and how the small cohorts affect outcomes over time.

No graduation rate, course access, staffing, discipline, attendance, civil-rights, or program-offering data was provided for this school. The district-level search for recent parent-relevant changes in the Hawaii Department of Education returned little of lasting impact, so there is nothing to report on policy, curriculum, or facility shifts. A parent evaluating Hana High and Elementary would be weighing a close-knit, culturally rooted community school against thin academic results and limited program information. The appeal is likely the small setting and the deep connection to place. The academic picture, as captured here, is one a family should explore directly with the school before deciding.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 27 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

59 schools plotted. 4 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 53% · ▼ 45 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 45% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 38% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 36% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 317%

School 17% · District 50% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 56% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 54% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 54% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 49% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 43% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

This schoolHawaii Department of Education, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.