King Kamehameha Elementary needs more elbow room

Where: 611 Front St., Lahaina, Maui district

Grade span: Preschool through fifth grade

Enrollment: 700-plus students, over capacity. Three additional portables are being added to the campus because of a shortage of space.

"We are maxed out on space," said King Kamehameha III School Principal Lindsay Ball. "We have very little green space left on campus. Our fourth- and fifth-graders have to leave campus for recess to play down the street in a park without any playground equipment."

Race/ethnicity enrollment: 22 percent white; 17 percent Hispanic; 15 percent Hawaiian/part-Hawaiian; 13 percent Filipino; 2 percent Japanese; 2 percent Samoan; 29 percent, other.

Free and reduced-price lunch eligible: One-third of the student body qualifies.

Special-education students: 10 percent

Computers: 199 on campus

Principal: Lindsay Ball, seven years at King Kamehameha III School

School nickname: Na Ali'i

School colors: Green and white

What are you most proud of? "The academic progress our students are making," Ball said. "As a school, our overall Hawai'i State Assessment scores have met the state benchmarks. Not long ago we were a Hawai'i Distinguished School." Ball added, "I'm proud of the way our students behave on campus and in the community."

What is your biggest challenge? "The ever-growing population of English Language Learners students and the lack of physical space on campus to service students," Ball said.

Special events: Afterschool tutor program for reading in third and fifth grades and an afterschool tutor program in math for fourth grade. Lahainaluna High School honor students tutor students in math on Tuesdays after school on their campus. Annual fall PTA Fun Walk. And a 50-year-old time capsule was opened and will be resealed in December.

History: King Kamehameha III Elementary is one of two public elementary schools on Maui's west-side. The 6-acre campus is on land along the Lahaina Harbor on Front Street. King Kamehameha I resided at the site of King Kamehameha III School, which is now considered sacred Hawaiian burial grounds. "Our school is embraced by our community; there is a strong sense of community and culture here," Ball said.

Well-known alumnus: Adm. Robert Kihune

Testing: Here's how King Kamehameha III Elementary students fared on the most recently released standardized tests.

2006 Stanford Achievement Test: Listed is the combined percentage of pupils scoring average and above average, compared with the national combined average of 77 percent. Third-grade reading, 80 percent; math, 86 percent. Fourth-grade reading, 77 percent; math, 88 percent. Fifth-grade reading, 79 percent; math, 84 percent.

2006 Hawai'i State Assessment test: Listed is the combined percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards. Third-grade reading, 40 percent (state average: 50.2 percent); math, 24 percent (state average: 30 percent). Fourth-grade reading, 61 percent (58.1 percent); math, 28 percent (32.5 percent). Fifth-grade reading, 35 percent (43.5 percent); math, 25 percent (24 percent).

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source: honoluluadvertiser.com