Amid the furloughs and budget cuts, two Kalihi schools received some great news!
They've been nationally recognized as Blue Ribbon schools.
Principal Patricia Dang reflects on a stone path established in 1935 at Kapalama Elementary school as inspiration for getting the award.
She believes at looking at the past to improve the future.
So to get the kids to improve their reading and math grades, the school counted on parents for help.
"You can't have the parents left out it's important that no matter what the child does, as long as they support their child, that helps the child want to do better,” said Dang.
Scores have improved steadily. Math scores jumped 20% two years ago. More than half the students qualify for free or reduced lunch, meaning they come from low income families, so parents work multiple jobs. But Dang says it's about putting in quality time.
"So even if it's ten, 15 minutes, sit down talk to your child ask them about their day encourage them to try their best,” said Dang.
At Lanakila Elementary School, scores have also improved steadily over the past five years. They did it by establishing a more uniform curriculum. Teachers worked together and figured out what works best for the students.
"For example we have an uninterrupted reading block in the morning it's a 90 minute period where we just focus on all reading skills reading strategies and help the children to become better readers,” said Lanakila School Teacher Tanya Hall.
The students went from below average scores to well above the national average. The school also has more than its share of low income families. Two out of three students qualify for free or reduced lunch. With furloughs still looming and possibly pay cuts, hall says the national award has been a morale booster.
"It gives us inspiration that we are making a difference, what we're doing here is working and our students are working hard, teachers, administration, everybody's working hard,” said Dang.
Both schools say in tough times, teamwork can accomplish a lot.
