Best Private Schools in Central Oahu, Hawaii

Driving your child into town for school may seem like a daunting task to those of you who live in Central Oahu. Never fear, Central Oahu has a fair share of good private schools for your child. The following is a list of those schools, including a brief description of their curriculum and tuition cost.

The Hanalani Schools in Mililani has more than 600 students in preschool through twelfth grad. It is a school that prides itself on providing a good foundation for students to pursue higher education. It is the only kindergarten through 12 grade Christian school in Central Oahu. The Hanalani Schools use the Bible as its basis for education. "From a Biblical foundation we strive to develop students' intellectual, emotional, and spiritual capacity in a wide variety of fields and to lead students to a deeper worship of God and closer conformity to the image of Christ." Hanalani also stresses academic pursuits, especially math and spelling. Tuition costs range from $6,800 to $7,500.

The Children's House in Pearl City is a non-denominational Christian school. There are over 300 students in preschool through the sixth grade. They have a Christ centered curriculum and use the Montessori method of learning for the early years. Tuition costs are about $7,200.

The Ho'ala School in Wahiawa has about 120 students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The school is divided into two campuses, upper and lower, and just blocks apart. Ho'ala school owns the property below the high school and has plans to relocate the elementary school in the near future. Ho'ala school was founded in 1986 by Sister Joan Madden, however it is not a religious based school. Sister Madden wanted to create a school where the students accepted responsibility for their own actions, listened with understanding, and contributed to each other's welfare while living lives of vision and integrity. Ho'ala students receive an academic experience with spiritual and philisophical undertones that are not religious based. Tuition costs are $8,200 to $8,500.

Trinity Lutheran Church School, located on California Street in Wahiawa, has about 200 students serving preschool through sixth grade. The school was founded in 1953. Most of the students come from area Lutheran church members and local military. Trinity Lutheran Church School is very close to the military base, and about 40% of its students are from military families. Trinity is a Lutheran school which is part of the largest Protestant school system in the country. The school curriculum focuses on traditional studies including language arts, mathematics, Hawaiian history, geography, science and fine arts. As part of the Lutheran tradition, music plays a big role in the education and students participate in weekly music classes. Tuition ranges from $5,600 to $5,700.

Central Oahu offers a nice selection of private schools for the area children, providing an education to rival those found in Honolulu.