Pohakea Elementary School

Posted: May 28, 2015

Posted: May 28, 2015

Posted: May 28, 2015

The school has a POPS Program and each month a student from each class and grade is recognized. POPS stands for Pohakea's Outstanding Positive Student. Each month has a different theme:
August: Respect
September: Responsibility
October: Relationships
November: Self-Directed Learner
December: Community Contributor
January: Complex Thinker
February: Quality Producer
March: Effective Communicator
April: Positive Attitude
May: Perseverance

Posted: May 28, 2015

We are a military family and have been pleasantly surprised by our experience at Pohakea Elementary. We arrived in the middle of the school year so we had no choice but to put our child in public school. Hearing all the bad reviews about Hawaii public schools...we just knew that private school was the only option for our children. My daughter had a wonderful experience and has learned a lot. She LOVES school. Her teacher was very nice, informative and strives for the best. The next school year, we decided to keep her at Pohakea. We were lucky to have another great and motivated teacher. My daughter is performing above her grade level! Looking forward to my son joining her in the upcoming school year.

What I don't like about the school.....unlike the other schools in the area there is not a lot of opportunities for parent involvement :-( They lack special programs where you can see your child perform i.e. May Day. There are no clubs/sports for children in grades K-4.

Posted: May 5, 2014

This school is HORRIBLE! Run the other way quick! We are military family of Hispanic decent and have never been sooo DISCRIMINATED! My child blends in very well with "locals" but on his first day of school he was asked if he was any kind of "howly", he is constantly reminded by the kids that if he is not Hawaiian or Filipino he is not Welcome at Pohakea. He is constantly "bullied," by not only by kids but some staff. We have had multiple meetings with staff but they don't seem to care. Forget going to the school district because they send back to the principal, whom I give half a star too. I am appalled how this public school system is sooooo behind on the times, it's like they are back in the 50's and they aren't apt or educated on equal rights to any ethnicity or identification. Invest in private school or keep your kids in Charter schools cause from our experience their close minded way of life is not going to change anytime soon.

Posted: January 18, 2014

My children have been to number of schools in the mainland and Europe. Pohakea was a pleasant surprise for me. I have found the teachers effective and approachable. My kids have enjoyed the extra curricular activities and we have had no problems in getting extra help when necessary. My children enjoy this school.

Posted: March 16, 2011

When it was time for my children to begin school I was very wary of Pohakea. I even tried to get a geographic exception to a newer, more modern school. My request was denied and that was the best thing that could have happened to my kids. It is now 5 years later and my kids are doing great. The school has a wonderful inclusion program for special needs kids. My son (who is in special ed) gets to spend the whole day among his peers while getting his IEP goals met. They also have a great reading program where students are in classes by their reading level. Even if a child isn't in special education they get individualized reading instruction. My son just told me they have iPads and iTouches to use in the classroom. I've also seen in several of the classrooms awesome interactive boards.There are quite a few extra curricular activities as well as an after school tutoring program. All of which are free. I am proud to say my kids attend Pohakea Elementary School.

Posted: February 20, 2010

I was very surprised how awesome this school is because Iam used to a european school system, the teachers are very caring and serious about there job but they never forget about the fun. I have a special need child but this is not a problem, he is very very happy there, and he was in a private school before , they didn't really integrated him, he had to sit and watch the others often when they did something he couldn't do, he was very unhappy about this. This doesn't happen at Pohakea.