Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Waimānalo

Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Waimānalo, located at Blanche Pope Elementary, opened its doors to its first class of Papa Mālaaʻo & Papa ʻEkahi (K & 1) in August 2019. The school is now the site of the seventh HIDOE Hawaiian Immersion school on Oʻahu. In the 2025-26 school year,  papa M - 6 (K-6) will be offered, as well as preschool.

Kumu Keoni Chang-Purdy is Waimānalo's first kumu. He joined our Kaiapuni at its inception in 2019, after teaching at Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Ānuenue for many years. He is currently the Kindergarten teacher.

____

Aloha my name is Keoni Chang-Purdy and I am very happy to serve this community.  I am overjoyed with the interest and dedication this community has committed to our ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and am very excited to see our kaiapuni grow.  Our Lāhui will be inspired through education, language, and culture, and our keiki and community will rise. 

Kumu Kaʻimilei Keamoai-Strickland is a newer kumu at Kula Kaiapuni o Waimānalo, but she is no stranger to this ‘āina, or to the native language of our people. This year she is teaching grades 1 and 2, combined.

____

My name is Kaʻimilei Keamoai-Strickland. I am a product of Hanapēpē Kauaʻi and a descendant of the land of Kahelelani, Niʻihau. As a child, I was a student at Ke Kula Niʻihau o Kekaha, an immersion school that was taught through the Niʻihau dialect. In seventh grade, I was accepted into Kamehameha Kapālama, where I graduated in 2014. I then began my studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where I received my BA in Hawaiian Language from Kawaihuelani. I am an ‘ōlapa under Tracie and Keawe Lopes and their hālau, Ka Lā ‘Ōnohi Mai o Haʻehaʻe. With this hālau, I have competed at the Merrie Monarch Hula Competition for six years. In 2021, I was fortunate to represent my hālau in the Miss Aloha Hula Competition where I won first place. My teaching journey began at Kūlaniākea, a Hawaiian language preschool in Kāneʻohe. In the summer of 2023, I was a Kumu Alakaʻi at the Explorations program at Kamehameha. There, I taught Hawaiian studies, history, culture, chants, songs, and dances. Over a year and a half, I also worked as support staff and substitute teacher at Kula Kaiapuni o Waimānalo. Last summer I led the Kula Kaiapuni summer school, and I now am the lead teacher of the Kindergarten class. I am also excited to begin working toward a Master's degree in Education at the University of Hawaiʻi in Mānoa.

Kumu Kanoe Sang Kealoha has been involved in Kula Kaiapuni for many years. In 2020, she joined the faculty at ke Kula Kaiapuni o Waimānalo. She is currently the teacher of grades 5 and 6, combined.

____

My name is Kanoe Sang Kealoha. I am a child of Anthony H Sang and Joe-Ann Ululani Kūpahu.  I have one daughter and two sons, named Keaka and Keola. I also have three grandchildren.  We live on Hawaiian Homestead land in Waimānalo.

I have taught at Immersion Schools for many years. On Oʻahu, I've been a teacher at Pūnana Leo, Ānuenue, and Pūʻōhala. On Hawaiʻi island, I have taught at the charter school Ka ‘Umeke Kāʻeo. Every summer, I manage summer school at Pūʻōhala in Kāneʻohe. Before becoming a teacher, I was a parent, which is where I was first introduced to the Kaiapuni program and its leaders. It was the parents who urged the government to address its responsibility to the Hawaiian people and to the children of Hawaiʻi. I have great respect and appreciation for these pioneers who fought hard for Kaiapuni.

Kumu Hōkūlani Scanlan started teaching at Kula Kaiapuni o Waimānalo in 2023. She is currently the lead teacher of our Preschool class.

___

My name is Hōkūlani Scanlan. I am a native of Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, and I am also a teacher, a life-long student, and a mother. I have three children, and we live in Pauoa, under the protection of the mountain Konahuanui.

I have always had a great desire to be a Hawaiian language preschool teacher, so I am so full of gratitude to be able to do that here, and teach our children through the language of our ancestors. I have previously taught at Pūnana Leo o Koʻolaupoko and at ke Kula ‘o Samuel M. Kamakau (middle school). 

Aloha ‘āina to us all.