JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Firefighters battled a blaze at the University Laboratory School yesterday afternoon as flames began to engulf the 67-year-old elementary school building. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and HFD Capt. Kenison Tejada said the wooden structure was "just old and dry."

School that faced shutdown in 2001 finds new challenges

Yesterday's blaze at the University Laboratory School poses another challenge for a school that five years ago was saved from a shutdown through fundraising by alumni and its conversion into a charter school.

Long one of the state's most unique public schools, the "Lab School" has served for decades as a test bed for new curricula and teaching strategies by faculty of the University of Hawaii College of Education.

Much of the curriculum developed at the school, which graduated its first high school class in 1951, has won national recognition.

The kindergarten through 12th-grade school has an enrollment of 420. In 2005, 98 percent of its graduates enrolled in postsecondary education.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM A firefighter hauled a hose toward a burning portion of the University Laboratory School's grade-school building yesterday. The afternoon blaze darkened the sky with thick plumes of smoke visible from Waikiki and downtown Honolulu.

This, plus the school's intimacy -- with around 50 students in each high school grade level -- and solid education create a devoted alumni base, said David Forman, a 1984 graduate who went on to Harvard University.

"I thought it was tremendous. When I was at Harvard, I'd get a call from my classmate who lived in the Kalihi housing projects," he said.

"You get a great education for a very small amount of (public) money, and I think that's why a lot of alumni keep supporting the school."

Notable alumni of the Lab School include state Sen. Norman Sakamoto, former racquetball, jiu jitsu and ultimate fighting world champion Egan Inoue, and former sumo wrestler Konishiki (Salevaa Atisanoe).

The school faced shutdown five years ago when belt-tightening at the University of Hawaii eliminated its then-$1 million annual budget.

It was kept afloat briefly through fundraising by alumni, who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars until the school converted to a charter school. This opened the spigot of DOE funding, but the school's mission remains the same.

Alumni continue to raise thousands to support the school each year.

"This (the fire) makes that more important than ever," said Danny Alvarez, president of the school's alumni association.