Kipapa Elementary School

Kipapa Elementary School is a PK–5 school at 95‑076 Kipapa Dr in Mililani, Hawaii, serving about 473 students — one of the smaller elementary schools in the Mililani area, where neighbors enroll 600 to 660. It is part of the Hawaii Department of Education, the state's single statewide district. In 2025‑2026 it ranked 36th of 203 Hawaii elementary schools — the 82nd percentile, 4 stars — a sharp rebound from 68th percentile and 3 stars the year before, and close to its best showing of the past decade.

The most interesting thing about Kipapa Elementary School is what it achieves relative to the students it serves. About 47.6% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, compared with roughly 20% across the Mililani-area schools, yet in 2025‑2026 Kipapa outperformed Mililani Uka Elementary School and Mililani Waena Elementary School in all three subjects: 62% in English language arts, 68% in math, and 68% in science. Math and science each jumped 11 points in a year when many nearby schools declined. Among students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and English learners, Kipapa ranks in the 86th–92nd percentile statewide. Class sizes have also improved three years running, to 13.1 students per teacher — the lowest among Mililani-area schools.

Two things are worth watching. Chronic absenteeism sits at 21.0%, essentially flat and the highest of any Mililani-area school — roughly 1 in 5 students misses enough school to be chronically absent. Reading is also the relative soft spot: ELA proficiency was about level with the local median and did not rise with math and science, and it remains furthest behind top local schools such as Mililani Ike Elementary School. Combined with year-to-year swings in math scores, the picture is of a solidly above-average, improving school whose next gains likely depend on attendance.