Summary:
ZIP code 96779 is home to exactly one public school — Paia Elementary School — which serves students in grades PK through 5, enrolls 406 children, and belongs to the Hawaii Department of Education. Because the ZIP has no middle or high schools, families here generally move on to other schools after fifth grade.
Test results offer the clearest picture of academics. Science is the strongest subject, at 60% proficient in 2025–2026, down from 72% in 2024–2025; keep in mind that science is measured by the HSA while reading and math use the Smarter Balanced Assessments, so they are not directly comparable. English Language Arts proficiency fell from 45% to 31%, and math — the weakest area — slipped from 32% to 25%. All three subjects declined year over year, with the 14-point ELA drop the largest. Rankings show a similar swing: the school placed 103 out of 204, at the 50th percentile with 3 stars, in 2024–2025, after 145 out of 207 with 2 stars in 2023–2024, then fell back to 141 out of 203 with 2 stars in 2025–2026.
Other measures help explain the context. Chronic absenteeism was 26.0% in 2024–2025, meaning roughly one in four students was chronically absent, and 61.82% of students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. The student-teacher ratio was 18.4, and per-student spending was $14,717, though that spending figure is from 2018–2019 and may not reflect current funding. The district is listed as rank 1 of 1 with 5 stars, but since it is the only district in this ZIP's data, that rating is not a meaningful comparison; the school's own 2–3 star history is the better guide.
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