Enrollment at Hawai‘i's public and charter schools for the 2021-22 school year decreased to 171,600 students, compared with an enrollment of 174,704 students at the start of last school year — a difference of 1.7%.
Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) schools enrolled a total of 159,503 students this year, compared with 162,491 students at the start of last school year, a 1.8% decrease. The figures include students enrolled in school, complex area, or state distance learning programs. The state's 37 charter schools, meanwhile, enrolled a total of 12,097 students, compared with 12,231 the previous year.
Despite the overall slight decrease, enrollment for the current school year actually increased by 2,106 students since the end of the 2020-21 school year (See metric 17. The official enrollment count is taken 10 days after the start of the school year. Last school year, the Board of Education established a data metric to capture enrollment snapshots quarterly).
“Public school districts nationwide have been seeing changes in enrollment as families adjust to living through a health pandemic,” Interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said.
“One of the Department’s priorities for this school year is to reconnect and re-engage our students with their schools and with learning. Our schools have been doing a great job of reaching out into their communities to ensure that students and families know that schools are open and ready to support them.”
Based on enrollment for the 2021-22 school year, the five largest HIDOE public schools by grade level are:
High schools (grades 9-12): Campbell (3,075), Waipahu (2,797), Mililani (2,603), Farrington (2,339), Moanalua (2,108)
Middle (grades 6-8) and Intermediate schools (grades 7-8): Mililani Middle (1,585), ‘Ewa Makai Middle (1,254), Maui Waena Intermediate (1,140), Waipahu Intermediate (1,075), Kalakaua Middle (978)
Elementary schools: August Ahrens (1,219), Holomua (1,080), ‘Ewa (1,035), Waipahu (926), Keone‘ula (901)
The five smallest HIDOE schools in the state include: Ni‘ihau High and Elementary (14), the Hawai‘i School for the Deaf and the Blind (46) and Maunaloa Elementary (46) tied for second, Olomana (68) and Kilohana Elementary (79).
The five largest charter schools are: Hawai‘i Technology Academy (1,363), Kamaile Academy (919), Kihei Charter School (723), the Hawai‘i Academy of Arts and Science (706), and Ka Waihona o ka Na‘auao (632). The five smallest charter schools are: Ke Ana La‘ahana (41), Kula Aupuni Ni‘ihau A Kahelelani Aloha (KANAKA) (45), Ke Kula Ni‘ihau O Kekaha (55), Hakipu‘u Academy (61), and Hālau Kū Māna (120).