Pūnana Leo o Maui Backstory
Project KULEANA

          In the early 1980's, a group of parents, educators, Hawaiians and Hawaiians-at-heart came together to address a collective concern - the fading of a beautiful culture due, primarily, to the rapidly shrinking number of native speakers. For history has proved that when a language is lost, the culture itself soon follows.
         The group identified immersion preschool education as an effective-and quick-way to build a new generation of fluent native speakers. Through them, the culture would not only survive, but flourish in the modern world.
          The first Pūnana Leo Hawaiian language immersion preschool was established on Kaua‘i in 1984. Pūnana Leo o Honolulu and Pūnana Leo o Hilo were opened in 1986 and then came Pūnana Leo o Maui in November 1987. Today, there are 13 Pūnana Leo preschools throughout the state including two new schools which opened on Maui in Hāna and Lahaina in 2016. Because of our program’s success, indigenous cultures around the world now look to Hawai‘i as a shining example of a successful immersion program.

Pūnana Leo o Maui's Success

With the continued support of Ka‘ahumanu Church in Wailuku for the last 15 years and Wailuku Baptist Church where our first home was, we have graduated hundreds of fluent Hawaiian speakers. Many of these youngsters have gone on to the State of Hawai'i Department of Education's Hawaiian language immersion program, Kula Kaiapuni O Maui, at Pā‘ia School (K-5), Kalama Intermediate School (Grades 6-8), and King Kekaulike High School. Some have also continued their education at the University of Hawai‘i’s Hawai‘inuiākea and Kawaihuelani programs at Mānoa and Ka Haka ‘Ula o Ke‘elikōlani graduate program at Hilo. We believe that many of these children are future community leaders.

Some Interesting Facts about Pūnana Leo O Maui

• Pūnana Leo children (ages 3 to 5) become fluent quickly because they learn in a natural way, by interacting all day with Hawaiian-speaking teachers and schoolmates.
• Parents and other family members attend free, weekly language classes so that they may reinforce their children's language skills at home.
• Pūnana Leo children acquire life, social and academic readiness skills for entry into kindergarten.
• Committed families play a vital role - involvement ranges from caring for the school and play yard to serving on fund-raising committees and organizing Pūnana Leo O Maui quarterly gatherings.
• Pūnana Leo O Maui is designed for children of all backgrounds.
• Pūnana Leo O Maui is nationally accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children