Private school to open
in Kapolei this fall
Construction has begun at Island Pacific Academy, a new private school opening in Kapolei, and applications are being accepted for enrollment this fall.
The nonsectarian school is billed as the first independent college preparatory school in Leeward Oahu. It plans to open in mid-September to students in pre-kindergarten through seventh grade, then add one grade a year until reaching 12th grade in the fall of 2009.
Academex Systems Inc., a Canadian company based in Richmond, British Columbia, had planned to open the school last fall, but postponed the project for a year while it lined up financing, designed facilities and recruited faculty.
"The silver lining in the delay is that the building is a whole lot nicer than it would have been, and we've had a chance to develop the school culture," Headmaster Daniel White said yesterday.
He has been working since August with a group of veteran teachers who volunteered to help plan the school.
Island Pacific Academy will focus on "character building, community service and academic excellence," said White, a former headmaster at Seabury Hall on Maui and Webb School in California.
The school is expected to draw upon the rapidly expanding population in Kapolei and West Oahu.
"Island Pacific Academy will provide a very accessible location for the entire Leeward Coast," said Donna Goth, president of Aina Nui Corporation, the Campbell Estate affiliate that is developing the City of Kapolei.
The two-story, 28,000-square-foot, air-conditioned building will be next to the Kapolei Regional Library.
Class size is limited to 20 students, with an expected enrollment of 300 students the first year.
Construction on the high school is due to start in late 2005.
Tuition for pre-kindergarten will be $6,000 a year, White said.
Rates for kindergarten through fifth grade are $7,400, and $8,400 for grades six and seven.
The school will be part of the Academex Systems network. Kiewit Pacific and Central Pacific Bank are also partners in the $6 million project.
Application forms may be obtained by calling (808) 674-3523. More information is available at www.islandpacificacademy.com .