Kealakehe High School

Kealakehe High School is a grades 9–12 public high school at 74-5000 Puohulihuli St in Kailua Kona on Hawaii's Big Island, serving 1,401 students — the largest of the three West Hawaii high schools — as part of the Hawaii Department of Education.

Kealakehe has climbed steadily into the top tier of Hawaii high schools: it now ranks 12th of 65 high schools statewide (82nd percentile, 4 stars) for 2025–2026, up from 34th of 67 (49th percentile) in 2023–2024. That's the highest statewide rank among nearby schools, ahead of Konawaena High School (15th of 65) and West Hawaii Explorations Academy (32nd of 65). Its clearest strengths are math proficiency (26%, nearly double Konawaena's 14%) and Biology I proficiency (44% vs. 32%), plus the lowest chronic absenteeism in the group (19.0% vs. 31.0% and 26.0%) and a favorable 16.0 students per teacher. The trade-offs: English language arts proficiency is 64%, 11 points below Konawaena's 75%, and the graduation rate (82.0%) trails Konawaena's 85.0%. Because Kealakehe and Konawaena serve nearly identical shares of low-income students (51.11% vs. 51.73%), that's the fairest head-to-head comparison; West Hawaii Explorations Academy serves a far more affluent population (20.63%), so its numbers aren't directly comparable.

The school stands out for how it serves higher-need students. Low-income students rank 7th of 64 (89th percentile, 5 stars) statewide, and both English learners (55th percentile, up from 22nd two years ago) and special education students (81st percentile, 4 stars, after reaching 97th in 2024–25) are at or above the state norm. All of this comes on per-student funding of $14,828 — about $1,400 less than Konawaena — though that figure dates to 2018–2019. The item to watch is a slight dip in ELA from 67% to 64%.