KAIMUKI HIGH SCHOOL

'Kaimuki High School' is a WASC-accredited four-year public high school located in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kaimuki High School falls under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Department of Education. It is bordered by the Manoa Stream, Kapiolani Boulevard, Kapahulu Avenue, Crane Park and Date Street, quite literally, as its alma mater states, in view of Diamond Head.

Contents

History

Notable Alumni

Alma Mater

External links

History

When schools were opened in February 1942 after the Pearl Harbor attack, St. Louis School had to be housed at McKinley High School because the private parochial school was being used as an Army hospital. That forced the Department of Public Education to open an annex of McKinley in the Kaimuki district of Honolulu. The school was first opened at Kaimuki Intermediate, and in September 1943 became Kaimuki High School.
Kaimuki opened its present site in 1948 (coincidentally not in Kaimuki but in the district of Kapahulu). Various expansion and improvements amassed over the years thereafter. The administration building was completed in October 1950, and in that same year the school's colors of kelly green and light gold were chosen. The business education, agriculture, science, art, homemaking, mechanical drawing, publications, and girls' and boys' physical education facilities were also added in the 1950s. The 1960s marked the addition of an Olympic-size swimming pool, a new auto mechanics shop, and a new gymnasium able to accommodate the school's burgeoning population. The school started accepting freshmen students in 1983, and the performance arts learning center opened in 1987.
Today, Kaimuki High School's student enrollment is approximately 1500 students, drawn from nearby Washington Middle School in Moiliili and Jarrett Middle School in Palolo Valley.

Notable Alumni

Perhaps the most accomplished graduate of Kaimuki High School is former lieutenant governor and now U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, although an argument could be made for Thelma Kalama Aiu, who won a gold medal at the 1948 Olympics as part of the U.S. 4X100 freestyle relay team. While he didn't graduate from Kaimuki, musician Israel Kamakawiwoole can be counted as an alumnus. Other Kaimuki musicians include Randy Borden of Jon and Randy, Troy Fernandez of Kaau Crater Boys, Richard Natto of Toma-Natto and now the Society of Seven, and all the members of Kapena, including Kelly Boy DeLima. An infamous alumnus who did not graduate from the school was Ronald Ching, perhaps the most notorious syndicate hit man in Hawaii history. 1995 graduate Staff Sgt. Nimo Westhill Masaniai Tauala was killed in Iraq in March 2007.

Alma Mater

Here in fair Hawaii's islands,

There's a spot that ever calls,

Where in view of Diamond Crater

Stand old Alma Mater's halls.

Where the trees lift high their branches,

To the whispering ocean breeze,

There dear Kaimuki is calling

To our hearts' fond memories.

External links

★ Official home page of Kaimuki High School