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Donations will build gym at Le Jardin

Le Jardin Academy received $3 million apiece from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and Charles B. Wang Foundation, and $1 million from the Le Jardin Board of Trustees. The academy will use the funds for the construction of a new gymnasium. The donations were presented Aug. 16 at the blessing ceremony for a recently constructed set of classrooms and library on its Kailua campus.

Twenty-one public schools in Hawaii have received $10,000 each from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation for improving reading scores in the Hawaii State Assessment test.

The schools, on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, had at least 28 third-grade students last year and increased reading scores in the "proficient" category of the test by 20 percentage points or more between 2003 and 2006.

KCAA Laura Morgan Preschool has been given $50,000 by the First Hawaiian Bank Foundation for its playground upgrade project.

Established in 1895 as Free Kindergarten and Children's Aid Association, KCAA of Hawaii serves more than 1,000 children annually at its seven schools.

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