Education Opportunities Expanding on Maui


September 4, 2015

When you move to a new place, education is an important factor to consider whether you have kids or you’re thinking about furthering your own education. You want to know that there are worthy opportunities in the place that you’re moving to. If you’re in the market for Maui real estate, and you’d like to keep up to date on the island’s expanding education opportunities, a couple of recent developments might interest you.

First, the University of Hawaii Maui College is slated to have its early childhood education program accredited by The National Association for the Education of Young Children. More impressively, it will be the first such accredited program in Hawaii. Its associate degree program will be among 180 such programs across the nation. This is a big win for the Maui branch of the university, and it’s especially exciting for those who want to study to become teachers. With this accreditation, the campus will institute standardized preparation and assessment for students as well as those who are already teachers.

The implications of this accreditation are two-fold. First, it provides opportunities for aspiring teachers. Second, the graduates of the program will filter into Maui’s schools, making it easier to improve the quality of education for our students. Imagine the benefit of having Maui teachers educated on their home island before moving on to teach in Maui schools. Of course that’s not to say that all of them will stay on the island, but Maui schools will certainly have access to a steady flow of talented graduates. After finishing the program, these graduates will be qualified to become preschool teachers and assistant teachers, and will also have the option of pursuing bachelor’s degrees.

The second exciting development in Maui education is the Assets School, which will open its first learning center in Kahului. This particular school provides education for gifted and intelligent students who don’t easily fit into the traditional learning system. This includes students with dyslexia, ADHD, and others. Not only that, but Assets strives provide intervention strategies to other teachers throughout Hawaii who struggle with these students. They aim for educational success among students and teachers alike.

The new facility will consist of 700 square feet with multiple cubicles. There, the center will provide services like tutoring, educational assessments, support groups, teacher training, educational therapy, parent education programs as well as courses and workshops for parents. In order to stay in operation, the center will charge $50 per hour for small groups and $75 per hour for one-on-one sessions, but financial assistance will be offered to children who come from low-income families. Donations have also helped them move them through the estimated cost of around $15K to $18K required to prepare the space. They have received $50K from an anonymous donor, and $30K from the McInerny Foundation. Alexander & Baldwin, their landlord, also charged them a fraction of what they could have gotten for the space.

We hope you’ve found these developments as inspiring as we do, especially if you’re thinking about moving to or buying real estate on Maui. If you need any assistance with that process, you’ll find our contact information at the bottom of the page. Mahalo!



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