Iolani School

I am currently attending iolani school. its a very good school academically. as students move up a grade, it gets harder and harder. after 9th grade, it gets VERY hard and we have so much homework and tests. there is not a single day that we don't have homework atall. i get stressed out a lot because i have to so much stuff.i start homework after school at 4 pm and i go to sleep at 12 am or 1am. not even kidding. its ridiculous at times but overall iolani prepares you for college very well and its one of the top schools in the state of hawaii.

I am attending Iolani School now and am very grateful to go there. Iolani gives me everything I could ever want. The programs there are amazing and teachers are always there to give you the extra time. Also, class sizes are small (16 students) which allows teachers to personally help every student.

As a recent graduate, I'm just now seeing how well 'Iolani has prepared me for college . However, the road has been very rocky. Prepare yourselves for sleepless nights, a loss of 'social life", and shame if not taking at least three AP classes your senior year. But perhaps the greatest thing about 'Iolani is the environment--students motivate each other (through a little friendly academic rivalry) to strive for their absolute best. Working hard becomes a hard habit to break. 'Iolani pushes you to your absolute limits, but you are not left standing alone. 'Iolani faculty makes sure that you develop the skills to succeed at the school--and eventually life. Students: don't be intimidated by 'Iolani's reputation, but do make sure you WANT to be here. Parents: be proud of whatever your child accomplishes at 'Iolani--it's a hard environment to succeed in.

The school is good for academic but the school action in community is terrible. Date and Laau residents are upset because the school bought their land. I am concerned about the backlash from the community now. I don't want my kids school to have the image of taking advantage of poor community. I don't want that image to reflect upon my kids.
--Submitted by a parent

Iolani has a great programs in academics, sports, community service, and speech and debate. Iolani is also great in preparing students for college.
--Submitted by a student

Great school in terms of academics and extracuricular programs. Good follow through with counselors and Administrators. The school offers computer lab time and teacher office time to meet with students. I like the fact that students are treated with respect and trusted to roam the campus on their free time or to eat whenever and wherever they like. While there are many good teachers on campus that do many different activities with students, there are a few poor ones. (You will have to find out who they are) These teachers teach using old fashioned memorization methods and rely heavily on lecture formats. Thought that the school would have all good teachers that would use the most modern techniques and implement the best practices in teaching to accommodate all students but some simply do not know what that is.
--Submitted by a parent

Iolani is a special place for students. In Lower School the extremely small class size of 35 boys and 35 girls allows all of the children to know each other (and parents too). The Lower School parents are totally supportive of the exceptional teachers and so the children receive a lot of parental support and involvement. The Lower School selectivity leads to a close-knit family environment. By Upper School the class gets three times larger (200 to 220), but it is still small enough that you know your classmates. The faculty offers a lot of extra help sessions for those who need it, and the extracurricular activities are numerous. A huge advantage at Iolani is a small class size also allows children to be on teams that they may not have been able to participate in at other larger private schools such as Punahou or Kamehameha.
--Submitted by a parent

good school focuses too much on education no extra curricular activities
--Submitted by a student

My two daughters attended Iolani's summer recreation program this year and really enjoyed it. The teachers were caring and made sure my girls had a good time and made friends. We live on the mainland and it was a very good experience. Susan Bartow
--Submitted by a parent

I am an alumni and also a parent of an Iolani student c/o 2018. My years at Iolani were perhaps my best years and I hope my daughter will develop the same close knit 'One team' concept as she continues her education at Hawaii's finest school
--Submitted by a parent