There are 743 keiki (ages birth to 5) in Waimānalo, 76% of whom are Native Hawaiian. 75% of these families in this community are economically disadvantaged, with annual incomes of $66,378 or less to support a family of four. By increasing school readiness and supporting the families within the community, the Waimānalo ʻUpena project aims to strengthen a streamlined continuum of care and support for keiki and their families, improving early childhood development, kindergarten readiness, and academic achievement.  

The Waimānalo ʻUpena includes more than 30 partners ranging from health care providers and family support organizations to public and public charter school leaders, early childhood educators, families, and community members. The ʻUpena builds a collective response to community identified priorities. Over the last two years, these partners have been meeting regularly to ensure that all young keiki (ages 0-8 years old) have access to the support and services they need to develop a healthy, safe, and thriving life by the time they reach kindergarten.  

Formerly led by Early Childhood Action Strategy and Pewa Project, the Waimānalo Early Education ʻUpena now transitions leadership to an organization rooted in the community, Partners in Development Foundation’s program- Na Pono No Nā ʻOhana, a program serving Waimānalo for over 20 years.  

The Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana program provides Early Childhood Education/Family Education services through a unique blend of the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) Family Education model with Nā Honua Maoli Ola (Hawaiian cultural guidelines). This innovative curriculum approach aims to increase family self-sufficiency by providing culture-based comprehensive educational support, including home visiting services and connections to community resources. 

“We are grateful for the opportunity to keep this project going,” shared Nā Pono No Nā ʻOhana Project Director, Brittney Pescaia. “The keiki of Waimānalo deserve a close-knit, culturally driven community that uplifts and supports them from a young age. Through this collaboration, we’ve built pilina (relationships) with dozens of professionals who lead with aloha inside and out! Waimānalo has the most heart-driven, ʻakamai (intelligent), hard-working group of leaders that I’ve ever met. I am deeply humbled to serve Waimānalo alongside of them.” 

The ʻUpena program responds to the needs of the Waimānalo community through aligned strategies to promote culturally centered early learning opportunities and foster stronger connections between families, schools, and service providers. Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, in addition to its grant award, has provided valuable insight and an action-focused partnership to champion the success of the Waimānalo Early Education ‘Upena for years to come.   

To learn more about the program, visit pidf.org/napono and waimanalo.healthysafethriving.org/. 

A Milestone Achievement 

The Accreditation+ designation represents the highest level of quality recognition in early childhood education, awarded only to programs that demonstrate exceptional standards in teaching practices, curriculum, family engagement, and administrative policies. Ka Paʻalana’s Hope Preschool Site, which serves as a model for all their preschool sites, joins an elite group of early childhood education programs nationwide to receive this honor. 

“This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to providing high-quality educational experiences for children and families experiencing homelessness and other challenging circumstances,” said Kasey Popken, Project Director of Ka Paʻalana. “We are honored to be recognized by NAEYC for our dedication to excellence in early childhood education.” 

About NAEYC Accreditation+ 

The NAEYC Accreditation+ system sets professional standards for early learning programs and helps families identify high-quality programs for their children. The re-envisioned NAEYC accreditation process is based on the commitment to continuous quality improvement, lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, and feedback from the field. 

To earn NAEYC Accreditation+, Ka Paʻalana went through an extensive self-study and quality-improvement process, followed by on-site visits by NAEYC assessors to verify program quality. The program was evaluated on ten program standards and dozens of corresponding individual criteria to determine its level of excellence. 

Impact on Families and Communities 

Ka Paʻalana’s focus on serving homeless, at-risk, and ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) families makes this continued achievement particularly significant. The program provides comprehensive services including preschool education, parent education, and family support services through its innovative mobile preschool and Family-Child Interaction Learning (FCIL) model. 

“Achieving Accreditation+ status validates our approach to serving Hawaiʻi’s most vulnerable keiki and their families,” said Terry Nakamura, Vice President of Operations of Partners in Development Foundation. “It demonstrates that high-quality early education can and should be accessible to all children, regardless of their living situation or economic circumstances.” 

Moving Forward 

With this recognition, Ka Paʻalana reaffirms its commitment to providing high-quality education and family support to communities in Leeward Oʻahu, West Hawaiʻi Island, and Maui. Project Director, Kasey Popken shared that, “All sites will continue to incorporate culturally responsive practices and innovative approaches to address the unique needs of homeless and at-risk families in Hawaiʻi.”

For more information about Ka Paʻalana, please visit pidf.org/kapaalana/

ʻEleu is a consortium of Hawaiian nonprofit organizations geared and dedicated to the inclusion and promotion of early childhood education. For over 15 years, we have worked to advocate for legislative and community initiatives to impact early learning for the keiki of Hawaiʻi nei.

This year’s ʻEleu Rally included readings from several legislators such as Representative Val Okimoto and Senator Michelle Kidani. Others in the capitol also came down or opened their offices to interact with the families and children, and learn more about the urgent need for improved and universal early childhood education.

“We must challenge ourselves and our leaders to take seriously the need for public and personal attention to – as well as investment in the formation and care of our children,” said PIDF president Jan Dill.

Mahalo to all the staff for their hard work in putting on the rally, the families for their dedication to their keiki and our programs, and to all those who came out today in support!

Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF), Keiki O Ka ʻAina (KOKA), and the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE), members of the ʻEleu hui, brought together their staff, program caregivers and keiki, and members of the community to rally for Family Child Interaction Learning (FCIL).

A Yearly Gathering

Founded over 15 years ago to support Native Hawaiian early learning and strengthening families, ʻEleu is a collective of five early childhood education agencies: ʻAha Pūnana Leo, ALU LIKE, Inc., INPEACE, KOKA Family Learning Centers, and PIDF.

The annual event saw hundreds of adults and keiki fill the capitol’s ground floor rotunda. The groups organized games, educational activities, and short speeches by local leaders like PIDF’s president and founder, Jan E. Hanohano Dill.

“Challenge our policy makers today to show them that this is a community committed to the success of our children,” said Dill. “Our children will define what Hawaiʻi is 20 to 30 years from now.”

Participants had the opportunity to go door-to-door around the state government offices to greet their representatives, and present them with a simple gift of a Native Hawaiian plant and card meant to be both tokens of appreciation, and reminders of the important work being done within and outside of the House and Senate chambers.

While visiting with the legislators, staff and families talked about early and family education, and told stories of what these programs meant to themselves and their communities. The passion and commitment to Hawaiʻi’s keiki was evident, and left capitol representatives and staff with three important words: “Pehea nā keiki?” (How are the children?)

Statewide recognition of early learning’s importance

Recently, the Executive Office of Early Learning (EOEL) created a five-year (2019-2024) plan to address the high-priority needs of early childhood education in Hawaiʻi.

The plan addresses our shared priorities and drives the need for educational groups to collaborate with one another and leverage resources to improve the lives of our keiki and their families.

Provided with high-quality early learning programs, keiki are “more likely to succeed in kindergarten and beyond, and more likely to grow into healthy, capable, and contributing adults,” according to the EOEL website.

While traditionally pre-k education has been considered arbitrary preparation for kindergarten, current data shows that education prior to kindergarten impacts a child throughout their school career — everything from vocabulary skills to high school completion.

During his State of the State address on January 22, Hawai’i Governor David Ige announced that one of his main priorities for his second term is to create a universal, statewide high-quality public preschool system “that will give every child in Hawaiʻi a head start on learning.”

The initiative particularly targets outer islands, where affordable quality education is not as available to families and where early education efforts are most needed.

“Of all the initiatives upon which we’ve embarked,” Ige announced, “I believe this one will make the greatest difference in preparing our children for the future and in creating a 21st century workforce.”

Mahalo nui again to our ʻEleu partners, our staff, our program ʻohana, and all those who made the 2019 ʻEleu Rally for Early Education a success!

It all started when she arrived on site at our Pauoa program where she was able to see how the structure of our early education program is very different from the rest.

Our Tutu and Me model is structured so that our staff actually travel to many different sites around the state to provide high quality education for children and their family who might not otherwise have such an opportunity.

Jablon saw how our staff’s intentional action fosters participation and engagement at very high levels. Our staff encourages families to use the resources at each of the sensory learning stations along with the academic material as they interact with their children from one station to the next.

Find out how you can visit a Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool near you!