Aloha Island School ‘Ohana,

I'm writing to you from our country’s capitol, Washington, DC. What a time to be here doing work with the National Association of Independent Schools! This is my second year serving on a faculty that leads an intensive summer week-long program, Diversity Leadership Institute, open to educators from across the country who want to develop their leadership skills to work with a wide range of people with different backgrounds, life experiences, and beliefs as together they develop skills to build community and foster collective, institutional growth on behalf of all the students and families in their school. I am honored to be the one head of school invited to be on this national team of educators and represent Island School, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi in this important work.

Coming to work in the very urban space of DC, is a reminder of how much I have come to love the wide-ranging greens that cover the peaks of Kauaʻi as well as the spectrum of blues the ocean waters give us. I won’t lie, at times I very much miss the museums, theaters, and cafés that the shades of grey in concrete environments can bring. And, in just the 5-minute morning walk from the hotel to the national office amongst the friendly taps of rain drops…I am more and more clear that I wouldn’t trade my relatively new home with you on Kauaʻi for any of the cities where I’ve lived before…Sacramento, San Francisco, New York City …and so I look forward to when I am back at home, at school on Monday morning with you all.

And of course, being away is always a chance to reflect on what I love about our school. I love that we can create opportunities for deep dives into learning for our students. Our teachers have the flexibility to see where their students are curious and walk down that path with them as our students explore new ideas or new ways to express themselves. 

We're seeing this exploration come to life this weekend as students in 7th and 8th Grade are heading to Oʻahu with Ms. Nause and Mr. Gegen to compete at the state level for National History Day. They have pursued topics from Fred Koromatsu and Japanese American Incarceration during WWII to the impact of Title IX and Patsy Mink’s legacy. I get to see it as a co-teacher of Senior Seminar where the 12th Graders are in the final stages of the Sr. Capstone project, researching topics of their choice that represent everything from the history and impact of bread to understanding infrared telescopes and supernovas. 

And just yesterday, Ms. Kara, PK-Gr5 art teacher shared the image below, 2nd grade continuing with the explorations they began on STEAM day (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) last week. They are working on a still-life drawing from their unique perspective based on where they are sitting in the room, and the object of their drawing is a piece of art students collaboratively made on STEAM day. They are getting to experience what is true about life - that STEM in our world includes visual and physical aesthetics. Think about bridges or buildings around the world that enhance peopleʻs lives through form as well as function. I am so glad we give our students the opportunity to experience learning in an INTEGRATED way…that the physics of a roller coaster is real AND fun AND a marvel to the eye…that the design of a phone or modern car is filled with technology and has got to be “beautiful” to the beholder or it won’t sell. 

And so, as the 2nd graders were working on their still-life sketch, they themselves were discovering ways to experience the integrated world around them. Kahiau shared, "Isn't drawing this still life sort of like kilo but in art?" and Tommy expressed, "It seems like I am drawing crazy but then I see that what I drew looks like the texture of the fabric, I like it!" 

As always, please know every day we at Island School are grateful to be your partner for these critical years of your children’s lives. See you on Monday!

Together,

Nancy Naramada P’29

Head of School

n.nagramada@ischool.org