Best Public Schools in Zip Code 96779

Summary:

The 96779 zip code is home to a single public elementary school, Paia Elementary School, which serves grades PK-5 with an enrollment of 423 students. The school is part of the Hawaii Department of Education, which is ranked 1 out of 1 in the state and has a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Paia Elementary School's performance has fluctuated in recent years, with its statewide ranking ranging from 113 out of 195 Hawaii elementary schools (2022-2023) to 145 out of 207 (2023-2024) and 103 out of 204 (2024-2025). Its star rating has also varied from 2 stars to 3 stars during this period. The school's English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency rate is higher than the state average, but its Mathematics proficiency rate is lower. However, the school's Science proficiency rate is significantly higher than the state average.

One area of concern for Paia Elementary School is its relatively high chronic absenteeism rate of 26.0% in the 2024-2025 school year. Additionally, the school has a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (61.7%), suggesting a relatively high level of economic disadvantage among the student population. The school's spending per student of $14,717 in the 2018-2019 school year is higher than the national average, and its student-teacher ratio of 21.1 to 1 in the 2023-2024 school year is within the typical range for elementary schools.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				HSA Science (2025)	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts (2025)	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	HSA Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Paia Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	955 Baldwin Ave	Paia	96779	Maui County	Hawaii Department of Education	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(808) 579-2100	406	22	18.4	61.8%	21 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	124 (30.5%)	8 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	202 (49.8%)	50 (12.3%)	51.7	103^rd of 204 public elementary schools	49.5%		34.7	145^th of 207 public elementary schools	30.0%	42	72.0	45.0	32.0	$14,717	$1,314	$13,403

Cities Near Zip Code 96779

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Paia	1.55 mi	1	24^th
Haiku	3.89 mi	1	27^th
Makawao	5.74 mi	4	16^th
Kahului	6.4 mi	5	17^th
Wailuku	7.37 mi	5	31^st

See the top HI Hawaii cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Hawaii State Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.