The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in English language arts. The lowest is 37% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Mokulele Elementary School
Mokulele Elementary School sits on Aupaka Street in Honolulu, serving students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as part of the Hawaii Department of Education. It is a regular public school, small for its grade band, with a total enrollment that keeps classroom cohorts tight across the seven grade levels it covers. The school draws from a community where military, tourism, state government, and finance shape the local economy, and where the surrounding neighborhoods reflect Honolulu's mix of Asian, Western, and Pacific cultures.
The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. White students form the largest single group, followed by a substantial Hispanic population and a meaningful share of students identifying as two or more races. Smaller proportions of Black, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students round out the enrollment. A comparatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, lower than many public schools in the state, which suggests the school serves a relatively economically stable community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how it supports those populations.
Academic results tell a clear and specific story. On the Smarter Balanced Assessment in the most recent year, Mokulele's youngest tested students performed strongest. Third-grade math proficiency was high, with most tested students meeting the standard. Fourth-grade math was solidly mid-range. By fifth and sixth grade, math proficiency dropped sharply, with only a fraction of sixth graders reaching proficiency. English language arts followed a different pattern: third, fourth, and fifth grades all showed a majority of students proficient, with fourth grade the strongest. Sixth-grade ELA slipped below the halfway mark but held up better than math did at the same grade. Science, tested only in fifth grade on the Hawaii Science Assessment aligned to NGSS, showed a smaller share of students proficient, well below the school's ELA results.
Taken together, the school presents a solid early-grade foundation that does not fully carry through to the upper elementary grades, especially in math. The decline from third to sixth grade is steep enough that a parent of an older elementary student may want to look into how the school supports math instruction and intervention as students advance. The ELA results are more stable across grades and suggest stronger ongoing literacy instruction. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is unclear whether this year's pattern is typical or an anomaly.
Because Mokulele ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate or high school course access to report. The school does not serve those grades, so those measures simply do not apply. Data on discipline, staffing ratios, attendance, course access, and Title I status was not available in the provided materials. Program offerings beyond the standard curriculum were not reported either, so a parent interested in arts, extracurriculars, or specialized support should contact the school directly.
Honolulu's housing market shapes the context for families considering this area. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit below the statewide benchmark but well above national levels, and the area has seen a recent modest decline in values. Rents have been rising. The price-to-income ratio is steep, and rent consumes a large share of typical household income. The broader city is dealing with an aging and slowly declining population as residents leave for the mainland, and climate pressures such as sea level rise and water shortages are publicly reported concerns. At the same time, Honolulu continues to invest in major infrastructure, including the Skyline rail system, and the urban core remains a walkable, transit-served center of commerce and government.
Mokulele fits a family looking for a small, diverse elementary school with strong early-grade literacy and math foundations in a stable Honolulu neighborhood. The upper-grade math decline is the clearest thing a parent should probe before enrolling an older child.
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