The Legacy of a Princess

Kamehameha Schools was founded by the will of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a descendant of Hawaiian royalty, and the great-granddaughter of Kamehameha the Great.

Kamehameha School for Boys was the first to be established in 1887 on what are now the grounds of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu on the island of O‘ahu. A year later the Preparatory Department, for boys 6 to 12 years of age, opened in adjacent facilities. The School for Girls opened in 1894 on its own campus nearby. In the early years, the curriculum focused on manual and industrial arts.

The 600-acre Kapalama Campus is the largest and oldest of Kamehameha's three campuses. A 180-acre campus on Maui, a 300-acre campus on Hawai‘i, some 32 preschools on five islands and numerous extension education programs round out the statewide education system.

Between 1930 and 1955, all three schools moved to its present location - Kapālama Heights - less than a mile ma uka of the old Bishop Museum campus. In 1965 the boy’s and girl’s campuses became co-ed and the curriculum was increasingly geared to college preparation.

In 1996 two new campuses were established on the neighbor islands of
Maui and Hawai'I, and they now serve students in grades K - 12. Kamehameha also operates 30 preschool sites statewide. The three campuses enroll over 5,000 students and an additional 23,000 are served annually through community-based and scholarship programs, and collaborations with educational and community organizations.

In addition to three campuses, Kamehameha operates 30 preschool sites enrolling 1,500 3- and 4-year-old children statewide; and serves thousands more students through community outreach and scholarship programs, and collaborations with educational and community organizations.

Kamehameha subsidizes a significant portion of the cost to educate every student. Although modest tuition and fees are charged, nearly 60 percent of preschool and K-12 families qualify for and receive need-based financial aid.

Christian and Hawaiian cultural values and practices as well as service learning are integral to Kamehameha Schools programs, both on campus and in the community. It is the policy of Kamehameha Schools to give preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent permitted by law.

Kamehameha Schools is the largest private landowner in the state of Hawai‘i. Income generated from its residential, commercial and resort leases, as well as diverse investments, fund the schools’ maintenance and operations. The Schools' endowment has experienced dramtic growth over the past few years, resulting in a total portfolio value of $7.66 billion as of June 30, 2006.

Kamehameha’s Endowment Group also manages several education collaborations which focus on utilizing Kamehameha Schools’ sizable land holdings for educational purposes. The ‘Āina Ulu program is designed to use Kamehameha lands as classrooms for project-based learning. Statewide, more than 15,000 participants were served in 2005-06. The Mālama ‘Āina program incorporates land and resource stewardship management plans which help ensure availability of resources to meet future needs.