COURTESY SEAGULL SCHOOLS Kai Oehler and Lilinoe Coleman play in the sandbox at the Seagull Schools' new campus in Ewa Beach. CLICK FOR LARGE

Seagull Schools opens campus in Ewa Beach

About 70 preschool children started classes Thursday at a new Seagull Schools campus in Ewa Beach.

The school, built on 1.25 acres at 91-203 Kaimele Place, provides extended hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to make students' schedules more convenient for parents who have long commutes to and from work.

"It will provide an excellent learning environment for children of working parents," said Seagull Schools Executive Director Chuck Larson.

The Ocean Pointe campus off Fort Weaver Road can hold more than 200 students, but it will limit initial enrollment to 180 children. Its early-childhood program will focus on critical developmental skills and preparing children to enter grade school.

The school, which will open five of its nine classrooms today, sits next to 12 acres that developer Haseko Hawaii Inc. donated for the state's Keoneula Elementary School. The two schools will be bordered by an 18.5-acre city district park whose completion is expected by year's end.

The new Seagull school is accepting student applications and encouraging qualified teachers to apply for future classes.

Haseko covered the $200,000 cost of preparing the foundation for construction of the school, which received $3.6 million from private foundations, individual contributors, the state and a loan by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.