Enchanted Lake Elementary School

Posted: August 16, 2014

My son has attended ELES since he turned three and required early intervention for autism. The special ed program for autism is of such a high quality--far better than what he would have received at the school he would have attended on the East Coast. The principal at ELES is very involved and her leadership shows in the quality of the school. She never misses an IEP meeting. All the teachers and aides my son has had have been phenomenal--knowledgeable and caring and go above and beyond what is required of them.

Posted: December 4, 2013

We love this school. The principal is dynamite! PTA has relatively low membership, but they do SO MUCH for the kids! For example, without the PTA, there would be no music program. Our son is in his fourth year at Enchanted Lake, and we are sad we have to leave to go on to intermediate school next year. He has LOVED his teachers, who all took the time to work with him individually as needed.

Posted: November 10, 2013

Our experience with Enchanted Lake Elementary has been mostly positive. My daughter was bullied the first two years there but since I was very active volunteer in the school I found Mrs. McElhaney to be very quick to step in and get the behavior stopped. There's a couple Japanese American teachers that show favoritism towards Asian students and its apparent enough to many other parents and students. Part of the curriculum is the Everyday Math program which is HORRIBLE and so I find myself teaching old fashoned math after school. My son has high functioning autism and severe dyslexia. The staff for SpEd has been wonderful. Mr. Heen is so wonderful and Ms. Lana his aid is amazing with him (& other students). I found that I have to be on top of my game for SpEd and be my son's advocate but that is unfortunately true for all public schools. I wish there was playground equipment for the older grades because the teachers are supposed to watch the kids for recess and some teachers take away the balls and jump ropes so they don't have to pay attention to the kids. We are a military family and have been through many schools. I can honestly say that we love this school despite a few hiccups.

Posted: October 6, 2013

Excellent school, involved families and faculty. Curriculum is good. Teachers for my K and 3rd grader are friendly, capable and patient. I had been concerned moving to Hawaii about the quality of the public education system, but have been pleasently suprised.

Posted: February 16, 2011

With being a military family and relocating to Kailua our family really wanted to give Hawaii s public school system a try. Enchanted Lake was given good reviews and we were hopeful and optimistic that it would provide a decent education for my child. However, we were very disappointed and switched to a private school a year later. I found the principal and some teachers to be very unfriendly and not receptive to new ideas, change, or help. My child was very bored in the classroom because over 50% of the class was below reading level and he was never challenged. I met with the teacher and principal many times and felt they didn t care about my concerns, and nothing ever changed. Some teachers refuse to let parents volunteer in the classroom, which I couldn t believe. In addition, there is no play equipment for children in grades (2-6) to use during recess. I don t feel this school deserves the high rating it has.

Posted: April 26, 2010

I just moved here from out of state and have been so blessed by how friendly the entire staff and parent community is at enchanted. The Principal was so friendly and made my daughters feel so at home!

Posted: April 19, 2010

It is friendly, safe, helpful and caring....They have lots of programs to engage the students and all the teachers, staff and faculty try to do their very best

Posted: February 15, 2010

My son has really enjoyed this school. The teachers are friendly and the principal is very involved. Parent participation is high and everyone works hard to make it a great school even though the State keeps cutting the budget.

Posted: January 14, 2009

Posted: January 15, 2007