The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in Science. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Kaewai Elementary School
Kaewai Elementary School sits on Kamehameha IV Road in Honolulu, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Hawaii Department of Education, the statewide public district. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment is small for its grade band. The student body is predominantly Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, with a smaller Asian segment and a modest share of students identifying as two or more races or Hispanic. A very large proportion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school firmly in a high-needs economic context. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available in the provided materials, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments, Kaewai's results are modest across the board, with English language arts showing relative strength. Math proficiency sits in the low-to-mid range across third, fourth, and fifth grades, with roughly a quarter to a third of tested students reaching proficient levels. ELA tells a more encouraging story within the school: third grade starts lower, fourth grade rises, and fifth grade reaches a level where better than a third of students are proficient. Fifth-grade science, measured through the Hawaii Science Assessment aligned to NGSS, lands at about a third proficient. Participation was full across every tested grade and subject, which means the results reflect the whole cohort rather than a skewed subset. Only one year of data was available, so there is no trend to report; a parent looking for whether performance is rising or falling over time would need to ask the school directly.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. That is simply a function of the grade band, not a gap in the school's record. Program offerings, staffing details, course access, discipline data, attendance figures, and Title I status were not included in the provided data. A parent weighing Kaewai would want to ask the school about those supports, particularly given the high-needs population it serves.
Honolulu provides the broader setting. The city is Hawaii's capital and commercial hub, stretching along the southeast coast of Oʻahu, with a built environment defined by high-rise towers in the downtown and Waikīkī districts and neighborhoods spreading outward from there. Kaewai sits in a residential part of the urban core, away from the tourist corridors but within the same housing market. Publicly reported sources describe a city shaped by military defense, tourism, state and county government, healthcare, and finance, with an aging population and a steady exodus of residents to the mainland. Climate pressures, including drought, sea level rise, and flooding, are documented concerns. The city continues to expand its Skyline rail system, and TheBus serves the urban core.
Housing in the school's zip code is expensive by any standard. Typical home values sit well above both the state and national benchmarks, and the price-to-income ratio is steep. Renting takes a large share of household income, though monthly rent comes in below what a mortgage would cost at current rates, which pushes families toward renting. For a parent considering Kaewai, the housing market means that living in this attendance area requires either a substantial income, a long-standing family home, or a rental arrangement that absorbs a major portion of earnings.
What the data describes is a small, high-poverty elementary school serving a predominantly Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community within one of the country's most expensive housing markets. Academic results are below where most families would want them, particularly in math, though the ELA progression across grades suggests some momentum as students move toward middle school. The absence of staffing, program, and support data limits the picture, and a parent would be right to ask the school directly about what intervention and enrichment structures exist.
See more original research from School Decision →