INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY
RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY
RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY
RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY
RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY
RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY
WELCOME TO HPA! New Student Guidebook
RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY
MIDDLE SCHOOL
RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE WONDER INTEGRITY RESPECT PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
ALOHA HPA FAMILIES!
Welcome to Hawai’i Preparatory Academy
On behalf of the entire Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy community, I am delighted to welcome you and your family to the class of students entering in fall 2025. Congratulations!
Whether you are joining us in kindergarten or 12th grade, you are now an important member of a close-knit school family or ʻohana. HPA has a proud legacy that stretches back to 1949, and we’re excited to have you join a community rooted in tradition, purpose, and a shared commitment to excellence.
At HPA, you will form valuable and meaningful connections — with peers and adult mentors — that will last a lifetime. You’ll discover learning opportunities that are truly unique — rooted in the ecology, culture, and communities of our island, and delivered with care and
creativity by our teachers and staff. As you prepare to join the HPA ʻohana, I encourage you to embrace the many events, activities, clubs, athletic teams, and volunteer opportunities that we have to offer. During your journey with us, we expect that you’ll not only take inspiration from HPA, but also give back with your own abilities, ideas, and talents. Our community is something we build together.
As you will quickly learn, the people of HPA are dedicated to your intellectual and personal growth. You will be encouraged by compassionate, friendly teachers and staff members who will know your name and help you navigate the resources, programs, and curricula we offer.
The magic that happens at HPA is made possible through a combination of tuition,
endowments, and gifts to the HPA Fund — our school’s annual fund. Our tradition of giving back to the school that we all love is a point of pride that dates back to HPA’s founding in 1949. I hope that you join us in this spirit of generosity and community.
We look forward to welcoming you to campus in person this fall! Once again, I extend my congratulations on your admission to HPA and welcome you to our ʻohana!
With aloha,
Fred Wawner HPA Head of School
Welcome to the Middle School
PREPARING FOR NEXT YEAR
Congratulations on your enrollment at Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy! The 2025-2026 academic year promises to be an exciting one and we are delighted that you and your ʻohana will be joining our HPA community.
In addition to this document, over the course of the next few months we will be reaching out with information regarding important dates, activities during our opening days, and much more to help you plan for your first days at HPA. If you need to go back and review anything we’ve covered, you will find every email we send out by visiting our New Student Information Resource Board in myHPA. Please check this often as we will continue to add more information. We are so happy to welcome you to our school community! You will be hearing more from us soon. In the meantime, if you have any questions, we are here to help! Please contact us at 808-885-2500 or at villagecampusoffice@hpa.edu.
Core Values
Integrity: living honestly and with moral courage
Respect: serving with kindness and responsibility
Pursuit of excellence: striving for the highest and best result Wonder: being curious, appreciative, and content
Our core values are part of how we “live aloha.” They help HPA fulfill its mission: to provide exceptional learning opportunities in a diverse community honoring the traditions of Hawai‘i. Through our core values, we make HPA a warm, welcoming, purposeful community where you will grow and be accepted for who you are.
HPA’s core values aren’t tucked away in a book somewhere— these are real ideas that guide us as a school. We regularly examine how these values can be brought to life.
DISCOVER THE LEGACY OF KA MAKANI
Honoring Our Past, Embracing Our Future
You are joining HPA at a very exciting time! As we begin the 2025–2026 school year, we invite you to explore the history, purpose, and potential of this special place. Each class commits anew to HPA, bringing their generosity, sense of responsibility, and aloha forward to support and sustain our beloved school for generations to come.
HPA was founded in 1949, when Waimea was a town marked by Parker Ranch and the US Marine Corps. After World War II, as military encampments left the area, Waimea gained a new entertainment center (now Kahilu Theatre), a new airstrip (now Waimea-Kohala Airport), and Bishop Harry Kennedy of Honolulu
and trained in the winds known as ka makani.
Click to learn more about the history of HPA
found the perfect place for a new boarding school on the site where St. James Episcopal Church now stands in town. But long before all of this, Waimea was home to thick forests of ʻiliahi and ʻōhiʻa, and thousands of Native Hawaiians who cultivated the land and waterways with deep intention. King Kamehameha’s strongest company of warriors, the Kīpuʻupuʻu, were named after Waimea’s piercing rains
For generations, HPA students have honored this tradition with the mele and ʻoli of Hole Waimea, and proudly bear ka makani as our mascot. Like this sacred element, our students, too, are strong, influential, ever-changing — both powerful and gentle. Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy owes its entire identity to both this place and the strong-willed, adventurous, goodhearted people who have made it what it is — yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Congratulations again on joining Ka Makani.
The Village Campus is home to our Lower and Middle Schools and comprises eight acres in the heart of downtown Waimea. The campus opened in 1976, with a core complex that originally served as the Waimea Village Inn. Since then, our facilities have expanded along with the enrichment of our K-8 programming. Lower and Middle School students and teachers also use Upper Campus facilities, including Castle Gymnasium, Rutgers Tennis Center, Dowsett swimming pool, the horse stable and fields, Gates Performing Arts Center, and The Michael and Jeannette Saalfeld P ’14, ’17 Energy Lab.
EXPLORE HPA FROM HOME!
Get ready to start your journey with our virtual campus tour. Navigate through the spaces where you will study, play, and make new lifelong friends.
VIEW VIRTUAL TOUR
Getting Ready For The School Year
As we gear up for the upcoming school year, it’s essential to keep track of several crucial items and dates. This list will help ensure you’re wellprepared and can plan effectively for a smooth and successful academic year.
ACTION ITEMS TO COMPLETE
myHPA
Due August 1
- Update your contact information and school notifications
- Complete school registration forms
Magnus Health
Due August 1
- Complete all health forms
- Purchase student health insurance, if needed
myHPA Registration Forms
School Registration Forms are available to complete. Please log in to myHPA and click on the yellow banner at the top of any myHPA page (a yellow bar will only appear if you have forms to fill out) or follow these instructions. These forms are due on August 1, 2025.
Health and Registration Forms
Important Health Forms will be available on our online student medical system, “Magnus Health.” An email containing more information on how to access the health management system and upload documents will be sent. As part of enrollment, health forms must be completed in order for your child to attend classes and participate in any activities at HPA. These forms are due by August 1, 2025.
Key Dates Calendar
2025
All Residential Students Arrive and Move In Aug. 8
Residential Student Orientation Aug. 8-11
US New Day Student Orientation Aug. 8
Back-to-School Bash, Grades K-12 Aug. 10
LS & MS Intake Conferences Aug. 11-12
US First Day of School, Grades 9-12 Aug. 12
LS & MS First Day of School, Grades K-8 ........................................................ Aug. 13
Labor Day (School Closed; All-employee HPA Holiday) Sept. 1
LS & MS Faculty Workday, No Classes, Grades K-8 Sept. 19
LS & MS Faculty Workday, No Classes, Grades K-8 Dec. 1
Last Day of Semester 1 Classes, Grades K-12 Dec. 12
Winter Break, No Classes, Grades K-12 Dec 15-Jan. 5
2026
Residential Students Return Jan. 4
LS, MS & US Faculty Workday, No Classes, Grades K-12
LS, MS & US Faculty Workday, No Classes, Grades K-12 Feb. 16
LS & MS Student-led Conferences, No Classes, Grades K-8.....................March 5-6
Break, No Classes, Grades K-12
Grades K-12
Kūhiō
ACADEMIC SCHEDULES
Activities & Events
SOME HIGHLIGHTS TO LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR!
Our Middle School community is alive with island adventures, art-making, fun and games, and community celebrations. Through these activities, we amplify learning even further, and we build trusting relationships with one another. During the year, our many events bring parents, teachers, students, and extended families together to feel the excitement, gratitude, and sense of service within our HPA ‘ohana.
THEME WEEK
Each year, Theme Week takes us off campus and into amazing hands-on learning across Hawai‘i Island, and sometimes off-island. This long-standing tradition is a major highlight of the year for all Middle School students. Our teachers—with the assistance of volunteers— design four-day adventures focused on a special topic in their area of expertise. Each student selects one activity.
CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS
8TH GRADE TRANSITION
The eighth-grade capstone program empowers students to design their own independent projects, with the support of a small cohort of teachers led by our campus capstone coordinator. Students engage with important issues each year through the four practices of our school-wide sustainability plan, Mālama Kaiāulu. From ocean science to art, students are encouraged to explore their passions through inquiry and design.
Eighth-graders engage in a comprehensive transition program during their final semester to prepare for the Upper School. Activities include visits to learn about academic classes and athletics, health and wellness presentations by counselors, and workshops with eighthgrade advisors. The program culminates in a transition ceremony where students honor teachers, families, and each other with Hawaiian studies elements like chants and aloha.
ADVANCEMENT & GIVING
FUELING OUR MISSION
TOGETHER, WE UPHOLD THE PROMISE OF HPA
Our advancement efforts at HPA span a range of opportunities and priorities — and we value the participation of everyone. There are many opportunities to give. They are fun and foundational, and they truly make the difference for our work at HPA with your student(s).
The HPA Fund, an annual tradition, rests at the center of our yearly advancement priorities. The Fund provides essential, unrestricted support for the student experience — from academics and athletics to arts and experiential learning. This year, as every year, our goal is to reach 100% participation from our families. Every dollar makes a difference in helping to bridge the gap between tuition revenue and the full cost of providing the HPA experience.
Last year, this gap in cost of experience for each student was approximately $1,314 and gifts through the HPA Fund bridged this need.
MEET THE ADVANCEMENT TEAM
REPORT
IMPACT OF GIVING
HPA FUND
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ALU MAI GALA IN SUPPORT OF FINANCIAL AID
With great pleasure, we formally celebrate and acknowledge our donors each year. Their generosity and support drive our mission to new heights and empower positive change.
> CLICK FOR MORE INFO <
The HPA Fund benefits every member of the Ka Makani ʻohana. Director of Alumni & Parent Giving Zaheva Knowles speaks on the impact of the HPA Fund and ways to give back.
> CLICK FOR MORE INFO <
Come celebrate together as we all join in (alu mai) in support of Financial Aid at HPA! This year’s gala will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2025.
> CLICK FOR MORE INFO <
HPA stories from Hawai‘i and beyond MaKeKula
Ma Ke Kula is a biannual publication dedicated to our Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy ‘ohana, including our alumni, parents, and friends, both local and global. Each issue is crafted to share stories of success, innovation, and community spirit that define our school and its members.
Ma Ke Kula serves as a bridge, connecting readers back to our campus and reinforcing the connections within our alumni community, which numbers over 6,000 strong. It highlights the achievements of our students and alumni, showcases our unique educational programs, and provides updates on school developments and initiatives.
IMPORTANT LINKS & DOCUMENTS
HPA Key Dates, 2025-2026 School Year
Academic Schedule
Summer Reading List
Middle School Supply List
Whom to Contact
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Recommendations
HPA Responsible Use Policy
Driving Instructions to HPA Upper Campus
Village Campus Map
Student Accident Plan
Blackbaud Tuition Management - FAQ
ʻOhana Association & How to Get Involved
KaMakaniCash FAQs
Ka MakaniCash Instructions
HPA School Website
HPA Instagram
HPA Facebook
Remember to check myHPA!
myHPA is your go-to hub for all essential information. From important dates to course registration details, our New Student Information Resource Board in myHPA will be your compass.
Take advantage of this resource to familiarize yourself with everything you need to know for your first days on campus. Make it a habit to check the board this summer, as we’ll be updating it with more helpful insights and guidance as your start date approaches.
