Summary:
ZIP code 96782 in Pearl City has 9 public schools serving about 5,000 students — 7 elementary schools (PK–6), 1 middle school (grades 7–8), and 1 high school (grades 9–12) — all part of the Hawaii Department of Education. School sizes vary widely, from 248 students at Lehua Elementary School to 1,481 at Pearl City High School, which alone holds nearly 30% of the area's students.
Momilani Elementary School is the top performer, ranking 8th of 203 elementary schools with 5 stars, the area's lowest chronic absenteeism (3%) and lowest free/reduced lunch rate (16.5%). Palisades Elementary School and Manana Elementary School are also consistently strong, while Highlands Intermediate School ranks 7th of 85 (92nd percentile) with 5 stars and improved in all three subjects. Pearl City Elementary School jumped to 29th of 203 despite a 50.25% free/reduced lunch rate. Lehua Elementary School has the lowest ELA (50) and math (41) scores and the highest absenteeism (24%), and Pearl City Highlands School saw science fall from 84 to 45 in one year.
Math is the area's weak spot: Pearl City High School posts just 27% math proficiency, pulling the enrollment-weighted area average to 53.2% versus 59.7% unweighted. Elementary schools with higher poverty rates average lower ELA and math scores and higher absenteeism (21.0% vs. 9.5%) than lower-poverty elementaries, though science does not follow that pattern. Spending figures are from 2018–19 and don't show a simple link to results.
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