Kamalii Elementary School

180 Kealii Alanui

School District

Hawaii Department Of Education
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Hawaii Department Of Education

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on September 16, 2024

Thank goodness that my child does not have to return to this school. If you have a child that is neurodivergent BEWARE. Teachers and staff found it acceptable to incorporate outdated methods and would with hold recess and isolate children who were frustrated because of the lack of support. Our experience was so disappointing.
Submitted by parent on January 24, 2024

Our 3 kids go to school here. Amazing teachers and friendly staff.
Submitted by parent on January 24, 2024

Great school with passionate and caring teachers. Our 3 kids loved attending and now they are thriving in private MS/HS. Thank you to teachers and staff for always going above and beyond for our keiki!
Submitted by parent on November 25, 2022

The front office is so negative and takes delight in being obstructive. We called before we moved and asked what they would need, but they absolutely refused to give us any information until we went to the office despite telling them we were moving 4,000 miles. Once we arrived they demanded documents that would have been easy to get prior to relocating, but were now extremely difficult to get. I hoped it would get better, but within 6 months they were the primary reason to purchase a house out of their district. Imagine not selling your house because the local school administration is so nasty to deal with.Anyway, we moved to Lahaina and our daughter goes to Kam III Elementary. We LOVE it there and are so happy not to have to deal with Kamalii Elem.
Submitted by parent on May 07, 2022

Principal has extremely poor communication, and to be honest it’s unbelievable how rude she is if you do get ahold of her.3 On another note my son has allergies, on a bad day he sneezes a lot, he is forced to sneeze in his mask, if the mask comes down once, they call me to come pick him up, or send him outside the classroom to roam around unsupervised. My sister went to this school in the early 2000’s and we had great things to say about it. Unfortunately it has gone down hill quickly.
Submitted by parent on March 02, 2020

Excellent school with great communication. Many activities that involve the whole family. I feel confident with my child going to Kamali'i. I think the principal and other issues raised in the reviews below have been effectively addressed.
Submitted by parent on May 13, 2015

My daughter attended this school for kindergarten and 1st grade. We live 2 minutes from this school which is why she attended here. We both loved her teachers for each grade. I think there are too many students in a classroom, but my daughter is still able to learn. There is a free tutoring program for reading that my daughter was part of this year and it has helped her immensely! They have a garden, and a variety of field trips. The grounds are kept up nicely and the playground is big. I have attended lunch with my daughter a couple of times and ate the food, which I thought was tasty and plentiful. They offer good portion sizes and there is always a salad bar. The PTA is fantastic and supplements for activities the DOE is not/will not pay for. The pick up/drop off is getting better, but I don't see it as the school staff fault-parents are not following the rules/directions which leads to bottle neck traffic. The mixed classroom (no more accelerated classes) has helped push my daughter to achieve more. We have had a very good experience with this school.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2014

We will be pulling our children out of Kamalii this year. The new Principal is neither available nor approachable. The manner in which she discontinued the accelerated program was hurtful to the parents who enrolled their children in Kamalii specifically for the program. Unfortunately they lost many wonderful teachers last year and the ones who are left seem very frustrated and unhappy. This used to be a nice school, what is happening is too bad.
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2013

Reading previous posters' reviews, there are different experiences based on individual teachers and children. We have had kids at this school for the past three years. Our kids have had amazing teachers and it has been a good experience for our family. Our kids have learned to love to read. The school's test scores have been improving every year. As with any school - try to be involved. I've volunteered in my kids' classrooms regularly, and have been encouraged to see how much our teachers care. This school has a good PTA, too.
Submitted by parent on July 25, 2012

The drop off and pick up system is terrible oh what am I saying there is no system and Mr buzz your food is awful no one like green stuff ozing out of their chicken and three day old left overs its not just the lack of teacher responsibility to get our kids to the cafeteria on time but they really don't want to eat it parents did you know in 2011 our second graders were left outside the classroom with no supervisors for twenty minutes because a long term substitute was not set when the school knew the temp sub was leaving at fell break over crowded classrooms while other classroom are filled with recess equipment make any sense we are rated one of the top schools in HI but yet transferring your student may run the risk of a hold back Mr D you certainly have your hands full this year.... Let's make a differance.
Submitted by parent on February 16, 2012

Once again this schools poor negative teachers have wasted another year of my childs education. My advice to teachers, if u no longer enjoy children, quit your job!! Parents take my advice and run!!! My child will be attending kihei charter next year.
Submitted by parent on January 28, 2012

Awesome School. Uses technology, amazing teachers, they really care about the kids, nice campus, the new principle is great!
Submitted by parent on July 20, 2011

This school is so terrible! I don't have the time to list all the things wrong with this school. The school grounds are very nice but besides that you will be disgusted by the behavior of the staff. If you have a problem you will feel helpless because to nothing ever changes. Make the drive to go to a private school or get a transfer to another school. It will be worth it.