Best Public Schools in Zip Code 96796

ZIP code 96796 covers Waimea on the island of Kauaʻi and contains three schools — one high school, one middle school, and one small PK–12 alternative school — all part of the statewide Hawaii Department of Education, serving about 1,191 students combined. Because Hawaii operates as a single statewide district, every school here shows the same district-level "5 stars" and rank of 1 of 1; that label is a structural artifact, not a school-level rating, so parents should compare the individual school statistics instead.

Waimea High School is the clear standout and the only school improving on nearly every measure. Its statewide percentile rank climbed from 37th to 34th to 60th as its star rating moved from 2 to 3, ELA proficiency rose from 49% to 57%, math proficiency more than doubled from 13% to 27%, and Biology I rose from 16% to 26%. It also posts the highest test scores in the ZIP, an 87.0% graduation rate, and the lowest free/reduced-lunch share at 51.34%. Waimea Canyon Middle School, the feeder into the high school, sits at the opposite end: 1 star for three straight years, a rank that moved only from 18th to 21st to 27th, the lowest ELA (39%) and math (22%) proficiency among schools with data, and the highest chronic absenteeism at 25.0%. Niihau High & Elementary School enrolls just 13 students and stands out for the best attendance (8.3% chronic absenteeism), a 100% graduation rate, the highest need (69.23% free/reduced lunch), and the highest per-student funding at $29,065 — but no test scores are reported for it, a privacy-driven reporting limit for a very small school rather than a sign of weak performance.

The most useful takeaway for parents is the mismatch between the middle school and the high school it feeds: the high school is improving sharply while its incoming pipeline remains in the bottom quarter of Hawaii middle schools. Math is the ZIP's systemic weak spot — it trails ELA by 30 points at the high school and 17 points at the middle school — while literacy and science improved at both. Note also that funding figures date to 2018‑19, Niihau's completion data to 2023‑24, and test scores span two recent years, so comparisons should be read with those gaps in mind.