Students, parents lament close
of Kaimuki private school

By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin

On June 8, 10-year-old Sarah Yoshimura was devastated. Island Paradise Academy, which she had attended since the first grade, closed its doors, not just for the summer but for good.

"The school had a great academic curriculum and a pretty nurturing smaller environment," said her father, Robin Yoshimura.

The closing really didn't hit Sarah's classmate Nicolas Walter until this week when he started a new school. "He was pretty much in tears," said his father, Mike Walter.

Nicolas had to go from a 10-student class to one with 20, and had been at the school since he was 3.

The Kaimuki school's closure was announced in May. Although the school had weathered years of financial difficulties, many expected the school to remain open for at least another year since it secured a $300,000 loan last year.

"We just ran out of money," said Pamela Kapana, the school's administrator and business manager. She would not comment on whether the recent theft of school funds hastened its closure.

On the last day of school, police arrested the school's bookkeeper for investigation of theft. Police are investigating the theft of about $40,000 worth of tuition over the past nine months.

The family-owned institution was founded by Kapana's grandmother in 1942, and her mother Mary D. Gillis, now 85, ran it until Kapana took over three years ago.

Although at its peak Island Paradise had nearly 400 students on two campuses, it was down to only 80 this year. Parents banded together last year to save the school, but most agree that it was too little, too late.

Kapana said her family will either sell or lease the 1238 Wilhelmina Rise property, and has already received offers.