State's fastest-

growing charter 

maintains individual 

attention for each of 

its students

 

 

By Susan Essoyan

 

Hawaiian Star Telegraph

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 23, 2011

 

 

• Photo gallery: Hawaii Technology Academy

 

The line began forming before dawn at a drab, mixed-

use building overlooking Farrington Highway in 

Waipahu as parents vied for a chance to sign up their 

children for a slot at Hawaii Technology Academy.

 

 

Just a small white sign tips off passers-by to the 

location of the fastest-growing charter school in the 

state, on the second floor above a kayak store and a 

shredded-foam operation.

 

"One family came at midnight, and by 5 a.m. we had 51 

people waiting outside," said Jeff Piontek, an energetic 

New Yorker who heads the school, Hawaii's largest 

charter. "

 

Launched in 2008, the public charter school has 

quadrupled its enrollment over two years, with 1,000 

students at last count. On March 1 it opened up 250 

more slots for this fall, triggering that line of parents. 

The school can grow so quickly despite its limited 

space — 10,000 square feet — because its students 

work mostly at home. They come to the learning center 

on average twice a week for face-to-face classes, with 

additional time for electives.

 

"It's one size fits one; it's not one size fits all," said 

Piontek, formerly the state science specialist for 

Hawaii's public schools. "If you're a fourth-grader and 

don't know fractions, we can teach you. If you don't 

know how to conjugate a verb, we teach you. Every 

child has a customized learning plan."

 

Students undergo a base-line assessment before they 

start school. Teachers review their performance every 

Monday and adjust each student's agenda for the 

coming week. The school uses a standardized online 

curriculum purchased from K12 Inc. Success depends 

on two factors: an engaged parent and a motivated 

child.

 

"Your parent or guardian is actually a teacher; they're 

responsible," said middle school teacher Tiffany Wynn. 

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Dennis Oda

Hawaii Technology Academy teacher Matt Zitello helps Noah Lonosoares with his pre-algebra problem.

More Photos

 

 

 

 

"It's not sitting your child in front of a computer and 

saying, ‘Here you go, good luck!'"

 

Hawaii Tech's students score well, with 85 percent 

proficient in reading and 45 percent in math last year. 

But the school's close connection with K12 Inc. has 

raised a red flag with the state auditor's office, which 

is examining Hawaii's charter school system. The for-

profit firm gets 41 percent of the school's allotment of 

funds from the state. Under its contract, it also pays 

the principal. That means Piontek is a private 

employee, not a state employee like other public 

school principals.

 

"That is a huge issue with a lot of people," said 

Piontek, who makes $115,000 a year. "They are afraid 

the curriculum company is running a public school. I 

would much rather be a school employee, and so 

would the local school board."

 

The board has been trying to renegotiate its K12 

contract, which was signed before Piontek was hired 

and runs until 2014.

 

HTA enrolls students from South Point on the Big 

Island to the North Shore of Kauai, some of them 

competitive surfers or performing artists who need a 

flexible schedule. The school's individualized 

approach has struck a chord, especially with military 

families and home-schoolers. Piontek pulls up some 

profile data with a few quick strokes on his laptop: 47 

percent of students come from public schools; 31 

percent are military dependents; 20 percent were 

home-schooled; 12 percent came from private 

schools; 2 percent from other charter schools.

 

"I could fill the whole school with military, but we want 

it to be a local school," Piontek said. "Our plan caps it 

at a third."

 

Despite the building's bleak exterior, cheerful posters 

hand-lettered by students decorate the central hallway, 

inviting them to join the environmental club or attend 

a PTSA meeting. An art teacher enlightens her pupils 

on the concept of proportion at one end of the hall, 

while biology students dissect rats in its science lab.

 

"I really like this school because it's challenging," said 

Joelle Lee, a soft-spoken seventh-grader with a flair 

for drawing. "You can work at your own pace. If you 

get it down in most schools, you have to wait for 

everyone else. This one, you learn it once and you get 

ahead and go on to the next thing."