Haiku Elementary School

Haiku Elementary School is a PK–5 public school in Haiku, a small community on Maui's north shore, serving 336 students as part of the Hawaii Department of Education, the state's single statewide district. In 2025–26 it ranked 94th of 203 Hawaii elementary schools — the 54th percentile with 3 stars, its best result since 2018–19 after six straight years of 2-star ratings. That year, 58% of students were proficient in English language arts, 45% in math, and 48% in science. About 53% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and there are 15.2 students per teacher.

Reading is the school's clear strength and its engine of improvement: ELA proficiency climbed from 47% in 2022–23 to 58% in 2025–26. That beats every closer neighbor — Pukalani 52%, Makawao 47%, Paia 31% — and trails only Puu Kukui at 67%. Math is the weak spot; at 45% it sits 13 points below ELA, the widest gap among the nearby schools compared here, and it slipped this year while reading rose. Closing about half that gap would move the school toward the 60th-percentile range of Kula and Pomaikai. Attendance is the other lever: Haiku's 36% chronic absenteeism is higher than at every school that outranks it — Puu Kukui 23%, Kula 22%, Pomaikai 21%.

With 53% of students from low-income families, Haiku's results run above what its poverty level would predict alongside these neighbors, and its low-income students rank at the 67th percentile — above the school's own 54th. English learners, Pacific Islander students, and Hispanic students also rank above the school's overall standing. Special education students are the clear weak point, at the 5th percentile in 2025–26 after 37th the year before; in a school this small, subgroup swings should be read with caution. Staffing and spending look mid-pack (15.2 students per teacher; $16,016 per student in 2018–19) and do not explain the differences among these schools.