Holy Nativity School

The school is cute, and has all the classes like PE, music, art computers, chapel etc. but it doesn't seem to keep up with the latest research on child development. They don't do much hands on learning, just worksheet after work sheet. So, especially if you have a boy, he will get bored sitting and filling in the blanks all day. Also, there is not much of a community. Parents don't really interact like I hear they do at other schools. It's great in terms of 7 teachers really getting to know your child, but again, I see my child turning into a little robot after doing so much busy work. Oh, yes, my biggest gripe is tons of homework in k and 1st grade. If I had known they were so heavy on the homework for 5 & 6 year olds I would have gone somewhere else - it ruins my day to have to sit there for over an hour each evening to help my son with his busywork.
—Submitted by a parent

Holy Nativity School has excellent teachers, small classes, and personalized attention. I have never seen discipline problems. This is a wonderful little school!
—Submitted by a parent

Holy Nativity School is a warm, friendly, safe place to send my grandchildren. My children all went there and, so far, three of my grandchildren have been or are there now. I have never noticed any discipline problems arising during any time there and have noticed that the children are happy, participating students. HNS is a wonderful school and I recommend it to parents who wish their children to receive a great education, acedemically and socially.

ON SURFACE LOOKS LIKE A GOOD SCHOOL, IT IS SMALL AND INTIMATE. PROBLEMS EXSIST WITH DISCIPLINE, SOME OF THE LESS EXPERIENCED TEACHERS HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO HANDLE DISCIPLINE. THIS RESULTS IN BULLYING NOT BEING ADDRESSED OR BRUSHED OFF. ONE LAWSUITE ALREADY FILED FOR THE SCHOOLS LACK OF RESPONSE TO A MAJOR INJURY/INCIDENT. SPITTING, KICKING GO UNADDRESSED. ACADEMICS ARE FINE BUT OVERALL THE SCHOOL IS OUT OF TOUCH WITH ISSUES OF THE DAY. OUR CHILD WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO HNS BUT WILL MOVE ONTO ANOTHER PRIVATE SCHOOL WHICH LIVES THE VALUES THEY SUPPORT. BE CAREFUL WITH HNS, TALK TO A VARIETY OF PARENTS IN EACH GRADE BEFORE SENDING YOUR CHILD TO THIS SCHOOL.
—Submitted by a parent

My 3 children attend Holy Nativity School and they love it! The quality and level of instruction it impressive. The emphasis is not only on education, but also alowing them to be young, innocent beings with a conscious about others and their environment. The children are sweet and caring and the experiences we as a family are having with this small school can never be offered from a large school. The children are able to pick their top choices for their middle schools because Holy Nativity prepares them for whatever they wish to pursue. With 1 class per grade, the families are very close & you know more families than just your own grade. It is wonderful.
—Submitted by a parent

I am the grandmother of our adopted grandson. His mom had just left him when he entered Holy Nativity in kindergarden. This beautiful school loved him, supported him, nurtured him, and fostered academic growth. Out entire family is so grateful! This is a fabulous school!
—Submitted by a parent

I am a proud parent of a child that attends Holy Nativity School and hope that all prospective parents take a tour to learn first hand how special the school really is. Holy Nativity is commited to delivering excellence in education within a small and personalized environment. You can see it on campus and my child is blossoming right before my eyes as a result. My child is known... we are involved... and my family extends with this gem of a school.
—Submitted by a parent

I would definitely recommend Holy Nativity for its warm, friendly community and for the quality of its academics. Upon graduation, our child had a positive attitude about school and was accepted into 2 of the best private schools in the area.
—Submitted by a parent

I graduated from HNS many years ago and am now the mother of three children, living on the Mainland. I struggle to feel good about my kids' school choices and after a trip home to Hawai'i, I realized why: my own elementary school experience was so far superior to my children's current options that nothing seems to measure up! HNS offers P.E., art and music classes in dedicated facilities. Chapel services and religion classes are Episcopalian, of course, but the focus is on general good morals and Bible literacy I continue to find useful, even as a Christian of another faith. There are many positive school traditions, most notably the Christmas program, May Day program and art show. Every teacher knows every student. Academically, I was encourages and prepared for other high-level challenges. I was pleased to see so much about HNS continues to be as good as I remember!
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers were very poor, and did not motivate the brighter children. They teach to the middle here, and their middle is not very high. I, like most other parents, started to send my child to tutoring, because of the lack of challenge at HNS. Eventually we left for a much better private school.
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent school, faculty is wonderful and each child is given individual attention with focus to develope the whole child. The atmosphere is warm, caring and focussed to a good education as well as good citizenship. Could not ask for a better school. We tried public school , in fact a blue ribbon school, no comparison HNS is heads and shoulders above.
—Submitted by a parent

this school is way better than public school! i personally graduated from hns and i loved it! the teachers were amazing and really helped every child individually! the foregin language issue was no big deal because we had hawiian studies and lots of 'specitality classes'
—Submitted by a student

This school has a nice campus and location but is only slightly better than the local public school. They are trying too hard to become an exclusive school and the children are not benefiting from this. They are not flexible in meeting individual needs.
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent school!! Warm, nurturing, great academics! Wonderful!
—Submitted by a parent

We have enjoyed having our children at Holy Nativity School. This is a small school where teachers and staff know and care about my children. The school seems to attract wonderful families that are involved in their children's education. It has been a pleasure having my sons classmates over to visit and discovering that they are stable children being raised with values.
—Submitted by a parent