Summary:
ZIP code 96750 — Kealakekua, on Hawaii's Big Island — contains one middle school in this data set: Konawaena Middle School, serving grades 6–8 with 614 students. It is part of the Hawaii Department of Education. Because it is the only middle school in the ZIP code, there are no local public middle schools to compare it with; the useful comparisons are against Hawaii middle schools statewide.
Compared with other Hawaii middle schools, Konawaena Middle School performs above the middle of the pack, and it has been moving up. Its statewide rank improved from 41st of 89 in 2023–2024 to 35th of 84 in 2024–2025 to 33rd of 85 in 2025–2026, lifting it from the 54th to the 61st percentile. It holds a 3-star rating in all three years. Science is its strongest subject, with 51% of students proficient in 2025–2026, up from 46% the year before. English Language Arts sits in the middle at 46%, a 1-point dip from 47%. Mathematics is the clear weak spot: 32% proficient, up 2 points from 30%, but still 19 points below science.
Two contextual numbers matter for families. Chronic absenteeism was 29.0% in 2024–2025 — roughly three in ten students — and 58.14% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch, meaning a majority of the student body is economically disadvantaged. This data set provides no state or district average for either figure. The student-teacher ratio of 13.9 students per teacher for 2024–2025 suggests a moderate classroom load. Per-student spending is listed at $14,518, but that figure is from 2018–2019 and is several years older than the achievement and attendance data, so it should be treated cautiously. Overall, this is an above-median, steadily improving Hawaii middle school with strength in science and room to grow in math.
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