Damien to add
a middle schoolBoys in the seventh and
eighth grades will join students
at the Kalihi campus in 2004
Damien Memorial High School will add a middle school in the fall of 2004, the most recent in a string of private schools that are opening new campuses or expanding into more grades.
Calvary Chapel of Honolulu is building a kindergarten-to-eighth grade school in Aiea, while Island Pacific Academy plans to launch a nondenominational elementary school in Kapolei. Both will open in the fall of next year.
Like Damien's high school, the middle school will be open only to boys. It will offer seventh and eighth grade in facilities on the Catholic school's Kalihi campus. Damien currently has about 400 students.
"Many alumni have sons in the public school system for the lower grades and are anxious switch over," Brother Gregory O'Donnell, Damien's president, said yesterday in announcing the decision.
Other schools in Hawaii are also growing. St. Louis School is gradually adding an elementary school, with a new fifth grade starting this fall. Le Jardin Windward Oahu Academy will launch its high school later this year, starting with ninth and 10th grade.
Epiphany Episcopal School and Mid-Pacific Institute recently agreed to merge, transforming MidPac into a kindergarten-to-12th grade institution starting in the fall of 2004.
By adding grade levels, a school can compete better for students by guaranteeing a flow through its system. Longer tenure on one campus also provides a more consistent education and builds stronger ties with families and future alumni, which can be important in fund raising.
Russell Chan, Damien's admissions director, said the middle school plans to keep classes small, and will offer science and computer facilities that are "among the best in the state."
Calvary Chapel's new school will be part of a new church complex on six acres of land in Aiea. The school building will have 14 classrooms and a gymnasium, according to Ed Arcalas, administrator of Calvary Chapel of Honolulu.
"We want to offer strong academics with strong Christian values," he said. "We see that there's a need for that here in Hawaii. It will round out our whole ministry to families."
Private school enrollment in Hawaii has been relatively stable over the last decade, fluctuating between 32,000 and 33,000 students each year.