By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Adrian Allan, popular headmaster at Le Jardin Academy, was
mobbed by kindergarteners and first-graders when they saw him.

Le Jardin now
has a home
of its own

Parents, students, teachers and
staff all worked on the private
school's new campus

By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

A brisk breeze dances through Nikaela Lyon's color-rich classroom as the Kawainui Marsh, Mount Olomana and the coconut tree-lined shores of Kailua peer back at her.

"It's so beautiful here," the second-grade teacher said, a broad smile on her face. "It's so serene, so peaceful."

Where once stood a gigantic movie screen overlooking rows of metallic window speakers, classrooms teeming with academic life are now playing.

And Le Jardin Academy's faculty, staff, students and parents have a place they can truly call their own.

"This is where we live now," Headmaster Adrian Allan said.

Le Jardin, which used to occupy rented church space, is a private school known for its French language instruction.

'I think it's really nice.
The classrooms are bigger.'

Alex Gotay

STUDENT

The new campus is on the 24-acre site of the old Kailua Drive-In. Construction of the $8 million first phase began this year, and the school opened on time Aug. 30.

But construction is continuing. Rooms for music, band and French lessons are slated for completion next week. Basketball courts and a swimming pool will be done by year's end.

Palms stand watch along the school's driveway, which leads to tan school buildings with green tile roofs.

The spectacular Windward Oahu vistas are the first thing to catch visitors' eyes during the ascent to the buildings.

A stone lookout surrounded by mountains -- a kind of natural amphitheater -- is a focal point for the campus.

Students who spent years learning in the smaller, rented spaces appreciate their spacious accommodations.

"I think it's really nice," 13-year-old Alex Gotay said while fiddling with a soccer ball. "The classrooms are bigger."

Elizabeth Lindsey, 13, a Le Jardin student since kindergarten, said new buildings enable students to learn in a more comfortable environment. "It's much cooler."

Eighth-grader Samantha Jensen remembers helping with the landscaping. "We planted the grass."

The volunteer work done by parents and the hands-on participation by students, teachers and staff now give everyone at the school a greater appreciation of what they have, Allan said.

"They know where they come from. ... They don't see it as a school. They see it as theirs."

Teacher Lyon said: "They're taking ownership in the place. It's their home."

Allan, who arrived as the new headmaster last October after an international education career, said schools he's opened elsewhere did not have the sense of volunteerism he's seen at Le Jardin.

Allan said the increasing enrollment -- from 366 last year to 404 this year -- could also be attributed to the new campus.

The new buildings also allow the school to implement $500,000 worth of technology, which couldn't be done at the old site.

About the only problem has been traffic flow before and after school, Allan said.

The school's next phase, expected to cost $1.5 million, is important in several ways.

When the classrooms are completed, the Le Jardin family will be whole because the preschool, which hasn't yet moved to the Kapaa Quarry Road site, will be reunited with the rest of the school.

The opening of the school has heightened discussion and examination of whether Le Jardin should expand to include a high school. That, too, could be realized in the next phase.