West Maui private school
to open in 2005The school will begin with 90 students
from sixth to eighth grades
LAHAINA >> A private school with a college preparatory curriculum is scheduled to open in West Maui in September 2005.
The Maui Preparatory Academy plans to occupy several buildings mauka of the Napili Plaza shopping center that once housed seasonal and migrant pineapple workers, said Thomas DiNoto, president of the academy's board of trustees.
DiNoto said the school, comparable in curriculum to Punahou and Iolani schools on Oahu, will start out with about 90 students in sixth- to eighth-grade classes and add an additional grade each year.
One of the supporters of the school is David Cole, president and chief executive officer of Maui Land & Pineapple Co., the firm that owns the 14.9-acre dormitory site.
Cole said yesterday that the academy will be working in collaboration with Lahainaluna High School and the Earth University/UH Ag Entrepreneur Program.
DiNoto said Earth University graduates and interns will be available to help academy students who wish to receive additional courses in earth sciences.