Henry J. Kaiser High School (Hawaii)


Henry J. Kaiser High School is a WASC-accredited, four-year public high school located in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Honolulu community of Hawaii Kai.

Basic information

Named after industrialist and philanthropist Henry J. Kaiser, the school opened its doors in 1971, four years after Henry J. Kaiser's death. Although enrollment has fluctuated throughout the years along with changing community demographics, the school currently serves approximately 1,100 students in grades 9-12. The school's mascot is the Cougar and the school colors are blue and gold.
The Kaiser complex, to which Kaiser High belongs, also includes Āina Haina Elementary, Hahaione Elementary, Kamiloiki Elementary, Koko Head Elementary, and Niu Valley Middle School.
With a graduation rate of 88.0% in 2013, the majority of students successfully complete high school; however, a noticeable percentage of the student body failed to do so. Compared to the Hawaii Department Of Education district, Henry J Kaiser High School has achieved a higher graduation rate by about 6%. Moreover, relative to the Hawaii average graduation rate, this school is ahead by 6%.
453 students, or 38.6% of the student population at Henry J. Kaiser High School identify as Asian, making up the majority of the student body. The demographic breakdown of Henry J. Kaiser High School is very similar to that of a typical school in the state of Hawaii, which is made up of 34.2% Asian students on average. There is roughly an equal percentage of males and females at Henry J Kaiser High School with 48% males and 51% females forming the student body.

Campus

Kaiser is situated in Hawaii Kai, a small upper-middle class suburban community in East Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The open-air campus, built on a series of hills has six multi-story classroom buildings. Additional buildings include a number of trailers, an office, library, cafeteria, gymnasium, track, football/soccer field, baseball/softball field, tennis courts, and swimming pool. The driveway leading up to the school is lined with large palm trees, a distinctive feature of the campus. Koko Crater, a dormant volcano, rises up near its east side and is featured on its seal.

Curriculum

The school's curriculum emphasizes college preparation and incorporates the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards as well as national content standards.
Notable aspects of the school include: a School Community Council; comprehensive athletic and non-athletic co-curricular activities, the latter particularly focusing on community service; student government and leadership classes; an athletic complex, serving both the local community and the state; a Communications Arts & Technology learning center; Project Hoolokahi, a program working in conjunction with the Polynesian Voyaging Society; Air Force JROTC; AP and Honors courses; a music program, the Kaiser Cougars Band and Orchestra ; a four-year Guidance Program ; and a code-of-conduct and attendance policy.
The school has been approved as an International Baccalaureate World School since 2011. This approval supports the International Baccalaureate Middle-Years Programme and the Diploma Programme. The Middle-Years Programme is a 5-year program continued from Niu Valley Middle School. Students finish a personal project upon completion of the Middle-Years Programme. This school only offers IBDP classes to students intending to obtain the full diploma. Students may not take a mixture of regular classes and IBDP classes.
This school manages the AVID program as an elective course for the student who has a GPA between 2.0 and 3.5. The 8th to 12th grader can take an AVID class, and it is driven by the WICOR method, which stands for Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization and Reading.

Current Principal

Justin S. N. Mew has a Master's degree from University of Hawaii at Manoa. He was awarded the Hawaii Middle School Principal of the Year in 2011. He received the Outstanding Library Service Award School Administrators Honoree.

The Performances of the students

The students showed the average score 3.1 in reading and the average score 2.6 in mathematics. The percentage of proficient disadvantaged students are 57.8 of total disadvantaged students. The gap between disadvantaged and Non-disadvantaged students is -13.6.
The students' Advanced Placement participation rate is 34% of total number of the students, and the participant passing rate is 44%. The exam pass rate is 37%, and quality adjusted participation rate is 15%. The students' International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme participation rate is 19%, exam pass rate is 52%, and IB Diploma rate is 35%.

Notable alumni