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    • Arsenic Remediation
    • Cliff Failures
    • Hāmākua CDP & the CDP Action Committee
  • Home
    • Upcoming Events
    • About hakalauhome
    • Contact Us!
  • Yesterday
    • Timeline
    • Camps
    • Schools >
      • Hakalau School
      • John M. Ross School
    • Churches & Cemeteries >
      • Churches >
        • Hakalau Jodo Mission
        • Honohina Hongwanji
      • Cemeteries
    • The Voice of Hakalau
    • Sugar Production >
      • Hakalau Mill & Other Buildings
      • Wailea Milling Company
    • Infrastructure and Transportation >
      • 19th Century Hamakua Roads
      • Bridges
      • The Railroad
  • Today
    • Hakalau Farmers Market
    • Hakalau Jodo Mission Today >
      • Obon Festival
      • Memorial Day
      • Celebrations at Hakalau Jodo Mission
    • Honohina Hongwanji Today
    • Hakalau Reunions
    • Wailea Village Historic Preservation Community >
      • Cemetery Stewardship
      • Reviving Hakalau School
      • Senior Luncheons
      • Mochi Pounding
  • Tomorrow
    • Arsenic Remediation
    • Cliff Failures
    • Hāmākua CDP & the CDP Action Committee

Hakalau School

Picture
Hakalau School in 1940. Photo courtesy of Emi Uemura

History

About 1864, the first school in Hakalau was started in a house that was located not on its present site, but down on an island in the Hakalau Gulch. It would have been above the abandoned Hakalau Sugar Mill site. According to some reports, the teacher was Mr. Kalawaia who taught nineteen students. The last teacher there was Mrs. Benjamin B. Macy.
The school was moved across the gulch on the Kamae side, probably because the teacher of the boys and girls got tired of having to swim across to school often, for there were many rainy days and the gulches were often flooded.  

So on September 30, 1882, King Kalakaua of the Hawaiian Kingdom signed a document authorizing the issuance of patent for school lands and school sites to the Board of Education. Hakalau School was included in this royal document, with the land in the present school site.
More History
1920's
​Key Events:
Yearbooks:
None...yet!
Class Pictures & More:
1928 Girls
1929 Teachers

1930's

​Key Events:
​1930 - Dedication of the Hakalau School Park
1930 - Future Farmer's of America win contest
​
1930 Inter-Class Basketball Champs

Yearbooks:
1938
Class Pictures & More:
1930
​1930 FFA
1932
1932 Teachers
​ 1935 Teachers  
​1939

1940's

Picture
1940, Photo courtesy of Emi Uemura
Picture
1941 Aerial View of Hakalau Elementary and Intermediate. Source: 1941 Year Book
Picture
1941 Young Buddhists Association Softball Tournament at the Hakalau School Park. Source: Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
Picture
Hawaii Tribune Herald, April 8, 1941, accessed via Newspapers.com

Key Events:
1941 - 40 year history of E.S. Capellas' tenure published
​1941 - Hakalau Gym Dedicated
1941-1945 - World War 2
​1942 - John M. Ross honored upon his retirement
1946 - Tsunami



Yearbooks:
1940
1941
​1943
1944

1945
​
1947
Class Photos:
1945
1946
1946 Kindergarden Class
1947
1948
​1949

1950's

Key Events:
Yearbooks:
None...yet!
Class Pictures:
1950
1951​
1952
1953
​1954
1955
1956
1957
​1958
1950's Various

1960's

Key Events:
1961 - Dedication of Hakalau Veteran's Memorial
1965 - 

Yearbooks:
None produced
Class Photos:
1960 
1961
1962
1963
​1968 (Grade 4)​

1970's

Key Events:
1972 - Hakalau School closed
Yearbooks:
Not produced
Class Photos:​
1971
1972 (Grades 1 and 2)
1972 (Grades 3 and 4) MISSING
1972 (Grades 5 and 6) 
1972 Staff

1981

The residents and former students celebrated the centennial.
Picture
Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family
Four articles are provided regarding the history of Hakalau School from the Waichi Ouye Collection:
  • Hakalau Merger Goes Smoothly; BOE Due Report, Hawaii Tribune Herald, Wednesday, September 6, 1972
  • Hakalau School's 100th Jubilee, Hawaii Tribune Herald, Orchid Isle, August 16-22, 1981
  • Hakalau school will celebrate a century of success, Hawaii Tribune Herald, 1981 (exact date unknown)
  • 40 Years of Progress, Hawaii Tribune Herald, 1981 (exact date unknown)
For the Hakalau Kuleana, our responsibility is to care for the land, the people, and the culture. We are guided by cultural values of YESTERDAY: Engage in collective effort. Look out for each other. Honor hard work. Show respect for those who came before us. Aloha and Mālama `Aina. In 2021, Akiko Masuda added two more values to the list: Consistently show up. Whatever has to be done, jump in and do it!