Admission and Financial Aid
Thank You for Considering Punahou
Aloha. At Punahou, a child’s path – academically, artistically, athletically, socially or otherwise – is defined by individual curiosity and developing passions. Supported and challenged by a caring and accomplished faculty, this uniquely personalized experience in an environment of unmatched diversity of opportunity, reveals meaningful understanding and develops a deep-seated independence and initiative. These traits, honed over time, build the promise of success and allow students to realize their individual potential.
Applications for 2020 – 2021
Application Deadlines
Kindergarten
15 Oct
Grades 1 - 3
31Dec
Grades 4 & 5
31Oct
Grades 6 - 12
15Nov
How do you envision
your child’s classroom?
At Punahou, we embrace school, life and the world as one big classroom.
And we believe every moment, person, conversation and experience holds the potential to help us discover new perspectives and to shape our own lifetime journeys.
What does that mean
for your child?
It means we don’t direct him along a single path to success or a narrow definition of fulfillment.
From his earliest years, his Punahou teachers guide him to chart and navigate a journey that’s uniquely and completely his own.
And to do so for the rest of his multifaceted life.
A Classroom For
the joy of play
Our youngest students radiate energy and curiosity. At this age, your child eagerly studies the world through her senses: the soft rain on her skin and the sunshine that follows, the feel of grass under her feet. She mixes paints to understand colors and then thinks about how those colors express her emotions.
She’s learning about the ocean and our campus, her family and her ancestors, about the way the earth supports and sustains her.
She’s beginning to see that everything around her holds a valuable story and it’s her delightful mission to find it.
A Classroom For
finding his place
From 2nd to 5th grade at Punahou, it’s all about connections: What does he know, and what does he want to know? How does the past inform his present? How do the things he uses each day work, and what can he learn from that? How can he use his imagination to invent new tools and techniques?
His questions inform his study of our island home and his kuleana to it, along with his responsibility to continue exploring new paths and challenging himself.
His teachers show him that his ideas and opinions hold weight and it’s through his further inquiries that he creates
deeper understanding.
A Classroom For
choosing his own adventure
In Middle School, he’s still a fun and funny child – and we let him be. We also know that his mind is constantly wondering (and sometimes wandering.)
So his teachers give him just enough direction and focus to continue fostering his questions, his explorations and his ever-expanding opinions and conclusions.
All while preparing him to make thoughtful choices during his high-school experience and to continuously find happiness in his learning.
A Classroom For
owning her choices
By 9th grade, we give your Academy student charge over her schedule, opening a new world of opportunities and resources for her to own her learning.
She can travel abroad for leadership or deeper study, start an organization to help her community, pursue music and mathematics, physiology and art, Hawaiian language and human behavior – or all of them throughout her Academy years.
Her teachers guide her to understand that her time at Punahou is simply the beginning of her lifetime journey and by ambitiously chasing each opportunity, she prepares for every adventure to come.
At Punahou, a classroom stretches
as far and wide as your child can dream
As one of the largest independent schools in the United States, we provide a breadth and depth of opportunities.
With so many paths to choose from, every Punahou student succeeds in a different way. But know that at Punahou, students find at least one opportunity each day to construct new understanding and to follow their learning toward new discoveries about themselves and the world.
“Punahou is liberating. The path that you choose is your own. It’s not something that someone else makes for you. You set your own destination for your future.” Chase Stone ’17
“At Punahou I discovered who I am; I was encouraged to explore who I wanted to be, by teachers, administrators and peers who believed in me well before I believed in myself.” Sheree nitta ’93 Stewart
“Punahou is a place of wonderful diversity that places high priority on preparing young people to understand our changing world.”Reid Mizue ’98
What is Punahou looking for in students?
The answer isn’t simple because no child is simple. Punahou considers each applicant fully and looks for the kind of learner who sees school, life and the world as one big classroom, open and waiting to explore, to connect and to enjoy.
Title
Diversity
Diversity
Punahou students come from many different cultural and economic backgrounds, and as they grow, they prepare for a future that is increasingly global and collaborative.
Title
Work Ethic
Work Ethic
At Punahou, cultivating a growth mindset and resilience is as important as academic rigor for true college – and life – preparation.
Title
Passion
Passion
Punahou students embrace every situation, opportunity and interaction as a chance to gain deeper understanding.
Title
Character
Character
Students seek and discover meaningful experiences, significant relationships, and, perhaps most importantly, get to know themselves.
Affording a Punahou Education
Financial aid is a priority at Punahou because it helps to create a diverse student body, representative of the Hawai‘i community, each member of which contributes to the learning experience of all Punahou students.
751
students currently receive financial aid
$7.7M
in aid was awarded in 2019 – 2020
$10,400
on average was awarded per student
89%
of applicants were awarded aid
$26,000
2019 – 2020 Tuition