Demographics
Waikiki School serves 391 students from kindergarten through grade 6.
More than 50 percent of the students live outside the school’s boundaries
and attend by choice. Its draw may be its unique curriculum, which cou-
ples instruction in the Hawaii State Content Standards with instruction in
the Habits of Mind. Using research to identify behaviors associated with
effective adults, we emphasize the explicit teaching of these behaviors to
all students in the school. The infusion of this model within standards-
based instruction defines the strength of Waikiki School.
In 2007–08, 40 percent of the students qualified for the free/reduced
lunch program, 38 percent for English Language Learner (ELL) assis-
tance, and 10 percent for special education services; and 40 percent lived
in single-parent homes. Despite the intensity of student needs, our school
continues to exceed all national and state standards, making consistent
yearly gains. Waikiki has been recognized as a Hawaii Distinguished
School, attaining adequate yearly progress (AYP) each year since the incep-
tion of this award. We have consistently been rated in “Good Standing—
Unconditional” under the No Child Left Behind Act and have consistently
made the state’s Stanford Achievement Test Honor Roll. Waikiki advanced
to become a Blue Ribbon School by 1995 and a National Blue Ribbon
recipient in 2007. In a survey of Hawaii’s best schools inHonolulu Maga-
zine’s May 2008 issue, Waikiki School was given an A+ based on test scores
and desirability, and was ranked fifth of 258 schools.
In the Beginning
Mindfulness was not adopted at the Waikiki School to promote a good
feeling. On the contrary, it was brought in to help students with their
thinking skills in order to raise scores on statewide testing and to improve
academics schoolwide. The school believed that the best way to develop
students’ thinking skills was to have students use those skills every day and
to think about thinking every day.
Waikiki School’s evolution to being a mindful school began in 1991
with the adoption of the school’s vision, mission, and belief statements.
350 Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind