Punahou School facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Punahou School
The center of the seal depicts a hala tree rooted on a spring with kalo on either side. Two night-blooming cereus flowers, which border the campus, are found on the seal's outer ring.
Address
1601 Punahou Street Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 96822 United States
Information
Type	Private, college-prep, day
Religious affiliation(s)	Christian (Nondenominational)
Established	1841; 183 years ago (1841)
Grades	K–12
Gender	Coeducational
Number of students	3,000+ (approx.)
Color(s)	Buff and Blue
Athletics conference	Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH)
Team name	"Buffanblu" colloquially "Puns" or "Buff 'n Blue"
Rivals	Kamehameha, Iolani
Publication	Literary magazines: Kakela (6-8) Ka Wai Ola (9-12)
Newspaper	'Ka Punahou'
Yearbook	'Na ʻOpio (K-8) The Oahuan (9-12)

Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through 12th grade. Protestant missionaries established Punahou in 1841.

In 2006, it was ranked the greenest school in America. In 2017, Punahou's sports program was ranked second nationally in the MaxPreps Cup standings.

Punahou's student body is diverse, with student selection based on both academic and non-academic considerations.

History

In 1795, King Kamehameha I overtook the land known as Ka Punahou in battle. Along with Ka Punahou, he gave a total of 225 acres (0.91 km²) of land (from the slope of Round Top to the current Central Union Church, which included a 77-acre (310,000 m²) tract of Kewalo Basin) to chief Kameʻeiamoku as a reward for his loyalty. After Kameʻeiamoku died, the land passed to his son, Ulumāheihei Hoapili, who lived there for 20 more years. When Hoapili left to become governor of Maui, he gave the land to his daughter, Kuini Liliha.

Liliha and her husband, Oahu Governor Boki, gave Ka Punahou to Reverend Hiram Bingham, one of the first Protestant missionaries in Hawaii. Queen Kaʻahumanu was a strong supporter of the mission and built a house for herself near Bingham. A portion of the stone wall she had built to protect the compound from roaming cattle has been preserved.

Punahou School was originally a school for the children of missionaries serving throughout the Pacific region. It was the first school west of the Rocky Mountains and east of Asia with classes in English only. The first class was held on July 11, 1842, and had 15 students. Daniel Dole was Punahou's first principal.

Punahou has educated members of the Hawaiian royal family, but is not to be confused with the Royal School. It was known as Oahu College from 1853 to 1934.

During World War II, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commandeered much of the Punahou campus. Castle Hall, formerly the girls' dormitory when Punahou had boarding students, was used as a command center, buildings were connected with tunnels, athletic fields were used as parking lots, and the library was cleared to become sleeping quarters and an officer's mess. The cereus hedge on the campus lava rock wall was topped with barbed wire. Punahou students volunteered in hospitals and raised enough in war bonds to purchase two bombers and a fighter (among other airplanes), which were named after alumni who had fallen in service.

In the 1970s, Punahou's upper field and gymnasium were used for the Superstars nationally televised athletic competitions.

On August 7, 1972, the campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Oahu.

Traditions

Campus view in 1909

Many traditional events take place on campus. On the first Friday and Saturday of each February, the junior class hosts the Punahou Carnival. Proceeds from the carnival contribute to the Financial Aid program. The event is an entertainment highlight each year in Honolulu.

The Holoku Pageant is an annual celebration of the Hawaiian culture and arts. Students perform Hawaiian dances in traditional costumes, from the lovely hula to the intimidating ha'a.

The annual Sustainability Fair began in 2007 and included on-campus conservation challenges and off-campus coastline preservation. On Rice Field, classes set up canopies to showcase sustainable undertakings and projects, often including local produce sales and informational handouts.

To celebrate the school's homecoming, students, faculty, and teachers surround a 20-foot letter P, and ignite it at dusk. This event, the "Flaming P", is preceded by a spirit week, where students dress and parade creatively.

Seniors write and perform a Variety Show. This play involves most of the class, over 300 students. Seniors also have prom at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, Skip Day at the Kikila Estate and Pounders Beach, and senior lunch. With each student attired in either a blue blazer or a formal white Hawaiian dress, senior year ends with baccalaureate ceremonies at Central Union Church, and commencement at Stan Sheriff Center (since 2018).

Graduates who started Punahou in kindergarten are members of the Thirteen Plus Club.

In June, the school hosts an Alumni Luau on campus that the newly graduated class can enjoy with other alumni. The annual luau also functions as a major fundraising event for the school.

Throughout most of the school's history, elementary schoolchildren have been allowed to attend in bare feet. Aloha shirts were once restricted to Fridays, but dress codes were relaxed considerably during the 1970s.

G-Term is an effort for students to explore extracurricular opportunities over the week after students return from winter break. Students can choose from on- and off-island classes.

Location

All schools in Honolulu city (public and private) have an urban residential location. Nearby buildings include apartment buildings, private houses, a retirement home, a Catholic school (Maryknoll School), several small churches, and two hospitals.

Punahou shares the entrance to Manoa Valley with the University of Hawaii main campus and a few other schools such as Mid-Pacific Institute.

Punahou students are a few minutes away from the trail to Manoa Falls, the beaches at Ala Moana and Waikiki, downtown Honolulu, Lyon Arboretum, and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Situated in the foothills of the Koolau Mountains, Punahou shares Manoa Valley with the University of Hawaii main campus and a few other schools

Punahou's location provides many opportunities for off-campus learning: field trip destinations for middle school students have included the Bishop Museum, Waikiki Aquarium, Waikiki Shell, Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial, Kawaiahaʻo Church, Sea Life Park, USS Arizona Memorial, Valley of the Temples Memorial Park, Fort Ruger at Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu Zoo, Iolani Palace, Hawaii State Capitol, and the beaches on Oahu's North Shore. Clubs and classes often organize trips to neighboring islands, especially to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the Kohala Coast on the Big Island.

The school in recent years

Tuition was $30,480 for the 2023–24 school year, not including student activity fees. Locals have long regarded Punahou as an expensive school, but its tuition is less than that of Harvard Westlake School or Sidwell Friends School, both of which charge over $35,000.

Tuition does not cover the entire cost of educating a student, and the school's endowment makes up the difference. Punahou reported its endowment at $239 million in 2014. Although these figures are high among mainland U.S. private schools, Honolulu's Iolani School has a comparable endowment (twice the endowment per pupil), and Kamehameha Schools has a $5 to $9 billion endowment (30 times the endowment per pupil) with a larger physical plant. Maui has Seabury Hall, which has twice the endowment per pupil.

In the class of 2015, three graduates went to Harvard, three to Princeton, and two to Yale, with 22 total at Ivy League schools. Seven attended Swarthmore, Wellesley, Amherst, Tufts, or Vassar. Four attended Stanford, two Berkeley, four Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 16 Boston University, and 12 New York University, with 23 total at University Athletic Association schools. Students in that class also chose Texas Christian, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Rensselaer Polytecnic, Rochester Institute of Technology, Michigan, Northeastern, Boston College, Olin Engineering, Norwich Military College, NYU Shanghai, Erasmus/Rotterdam, Yonsei/S. Korea, Waseda/Japan, and Edinburgh/UK. Six decided to train at a US military academy. Schools throughout California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada are also popular among graduates, and many students choose to attend local schools like the University of Hawaii and Chaminade.

The class of 2012 had 30 of Hawaii's 70 National Merit Semifinalists. The class of 2013 had 20 semifinalists, and five of the state's ten National Merit Scholars.

Punahou's 33 Presidential Scholars were graduates of the classes of '64, '66, '70, '71, '75, '78 (two), '79, '82, '84 (two members), '85, '86 (two), '91, '92 (two), '93, '95, '96, '98, '01, '02, '04 (three), '05, '06, '08, '11, '16 (two), '17, and '21.

In 2006, it was ranked the greenest school in America. In 2017, Punahou's sports program was ranked second nationally in the MaxPreps Cup standings.

Punahou's student body is diverse, with student selection based on both academic and non-academic considerations. The school is a founding member of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, and uses a competency-based learning framework in some courses.

A recent study of the class of 1979 showed that 15 had a PhD, 22 had an MD, 39 had a JD, 18 had the MBA, 10 had the DDS, DMD, DVM, or ND (about one quarter of the class reaching terminal degrees). 4 were officers in the US armed services. 12 had degrees from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, 14 from Stanford, 17 from UC Berkeley, and 26 total from Ivy League schools.

Facilities

Punahou School President's House on campus

Chapel courtyard and Round House

About 5,000 faculty, students, and staff work in 44 buildings on 76 acres. The Robert Thurston Memorial Chapel on campus was building designed and built in 1966 by architect Vladimir Ossipoff and feature textile screens made by local artist Ruthadell Anderson. The school is built over a natural spring. Thurston Chapel's wall meets at a pond formed by the spring and features a low hung stained glass.

Case Middle School

One of nine new Case Middle School buildings on campus

Before plans were made for a new middle school complex, America Online founder and alumnus Steve Case ('76) donated $10 million. This led to construction of a new middle school for grades six through eight, Case Middle School, named for Case's parents. The project earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification and a Project of the Year award in Hawaiian Electric Company's Energy Efficiency Awards.

Sensors shut off air conditioners if windows are opened to let in the breeze; the buildings are designed to make full use of the tradewinds, with the help of the Venturi effect. There are also sensors in place that turn the lights on or off depending on whether motion is detected, and dim the lights on sunny days and brighten them on cloudy ones. Air conditioning is provided by three ice-making plants, one for each grade level's section. The units freeze and accumulate ice at night when electricity is cheaper, and allow the ice to melt during the day to cool the air.

Case Middle School consists of nine buildings with a total cost of roughly $50 million, made possible solely through donations.

Omidyar K-1 Neighborhood

In late 2010 a new five-building indoor/outdoor section of campus opened for Punahou's youngest students. It was constructed and operated with sustainable living as a principal goal, and the curriculum has a focus on sustainability. With solar energy, efficient landscaping, rain catchment and ecofriendly materials, the complex received a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Teachers are encouraged to personalize their classroom spaces, and each of the 12 rooms has its own outdoor area that is one-third the size of the interior space to which it is attached.

The total cost was $26 million. Individual buildings are named the Mountain House, Forest House, and City House, and historic Wilcox Hall retains its traditional name. Board of Trustees member and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar ('84) donated $6 million to the project.

Punahou's urban location places its students minutes away from Waikiki and downtown Honolulu.

Athletics

Punahou's athletics program is the most successful in Hawaii. It has won more state championships than any other high school in the nation. In 2008 and in 2009, Sports Illustrated ranked Punahou's sports program the best in the country.

Punahou football plays the second half of its season at the Aloha Stadium (where the Pro Bowl and Aloha Bowl were played). In fall 2014, the varsity football team ranked as high as 15th in the nation.

Athletic facilities include the Olympic-size Waterhouse Pool, a football field, a baseball diamond, two softball diamonds, and an eight-lane track. The school also has a fieldhouse for competitive athletics, an open-air weightlifting facility, a gymnasium for physical education and intramural sports, and a tennis center with eight hard surface courts. Rocky Hill has been used as a live firing range for JROTC and competitive target sports. Air riflery uses an indoor firing range.

Students need two athletic credits to graduate, which is a total of four semesters. They can earn these credits through P.E. and ILH sports.

Students compete in 22 sports, including air riflery, baseball, basketball, bowling, canoe paddling, cross country, cheerleading, football, golf, gymnastics, judo, kayaking, riflery, sailing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. Punahou has approximately 120 sports teams. The school is a member of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

Punahou teams earned 20 championships in 2009–10, out of about 30 varsity I teams fielded.

State championships

Ka Punahou and Castle Hall

Other programs and honors

Punahou requires all students (K-12) to attend chapel once a week, where each homeroom is assigned its own seating and attendance is taken. In addition, students attend a mandatory weekly assembly to listen to announcements or watch student performances.

Academy students have required coursework in Asian History, followed by US History and European History. Punahou also offers French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Latin, and Hawaiian as languages starting in middle school.

Students have access to a jewelry studio, a pottery studio, glass-blowing facilities, technology departments, a dance pavilion, and a dedicated music building. The campus has spaces for school-wide initiatives, e.g., for public service and international studies.

The high school yearbook, The Oahuan, has won awards from the American Scholastic Press Association. Na Opio is the yearbook for K-8. Ka Wai Ola is the school's long-running student literary publication. Ka Punahou is the student newspaper, and Punahou Bulletin is the alumni magazine.

Punahou has a strong history of academic competition with its math, debate, and academic bowl teams, and at times has had organizations for computing, chess, and gaming. Punahou's JROTC program was once known for its award-winning close order drill team with multi-person aerials using M1 Garand rifles.

Enrichment activities have included cultural clubs, dance and theater, funding and service committees, outdoor, environmental, and hiking clubs, pep clubs, and clubs based on sports such as martial arts and synchronized swimming. There are men's, women's and mixed choruses, a concert orchestra, and various band groups. Hui Le'a Nani ("heavenly singers") is the elite choral group.

Academy Clubs include (*=probationary): Academic Team,* Anime & Manga, Asante Ambassadors,* Astronomy Club, Book Club, Chess Club, Chinese Club, Civil Engineering Club,* Club Hospital Helpers,* Cycling Club, Design Thinking,* Easter Seals Club, Environmental Surf Club, European Culture Club,* Fellowship for Christian Athletes, Filipino Club, Film Club, Film Makers Club,* Free Movement Club,* Friends Granting Wishes,* Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), Glass Club, Global Grindz Club,* Go Club, Hale Hawaii, Happy Club,* Hawaii Humane Society Club,* Hinano Hiking Club, Historical Film Club,* Hui O Aloha, IMAGEnation,* Impact and Inspire Club,* INK, Japanese Okinawan Club, Key Club, Korean Club, Lacrosse Club, Lemon Club,* Let's Do Stuff While Making Friends and Getting Exercise (LDSWMFGE), Math Team, Medical Science Club, Military History Club, Mock Trial, Mud Club, Music Club, Nature Nuts,* Neuro Club,* Nihonjin Club, Operation Smile,* Pa'i'ai Club, Pilates,* Polynesian Club, Punahou App Development Club,* Punahou Bible Study, Punahou Interact Club, Punahou Young Life Club, Punavision, Ranger Club, Robotics, Russian Club, Screen Printing Club,* Service-Learning Club, Social E,* Speech & Debate Team, Spoken Word and Poetry Club, Tea Society, TEDx, and Ultimate Frisbee Club.

The Punahou marching band travels periodically, and participated in the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, the 2012 London New Year's Day Parade, the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, the 2007 New Year's Day Rose Parade, and the 2015 Rose Parade. In 2013, 54 members of the school symphony played four concerts in China.

115801 Punahou is a minor planet named in the school's honor.

Punahou in fiction and literature

• "He started his scholarly investigation while still at Punahou, although he later took his B.A. at Yale, his M.A. at Harvard, his Ph.D. from Oxford and his D.Litt. from the Sorbonne. He received honorary degrees from eleven major universities, but when he died in 1914 the Honolulu Mail announced simply: 'The great scholar was educated at Punahou.' None of the rest really mattered." (James Michener, Hawaii)
• "Gramps grabbed me by the arm. 'Hell, Bar,' he whispered, 'this isn't a school. This is heaven.'" (Obama, Dreams from My Father)
• "I wanted a station wagon like the family in The Brady Bunch. I wanted to go steady with someone like Marcia or Jan, girls who dressed mod and spoke cool. My new school was full of girls like Marcia and Jan. I'd just started seventh grade at Punahou" (Wright, Punahou Blues)
• In the Descendants, Matt (George Clooney's character) accuses Sid of being "a hundred miles away from Smartville." Sid responds that he is "Vice President of the Punahou chess club".
• In Hawaii Five O, Charlie Fong, the "extremely capable lab technician", is a Punahou graduate.
• "As part of chapel every year, the school held a special memorial day ceremony. ... The JROTC cadets dressed in full gear and stood at attention the whole time. Arm in arm, a boy and girl from each grade level ... walked slowly down the aisle with a wreath of flowers ... while the names of all of those in the Punahou family, former students of the school who had been killed in war, were read off. ... By the end, the entire floor at the front of the chapel was filled with flowers." (Lum, Letting Go)
• "We had attended high school together at Punahou, the most exclusive private school in Hawaii." (Charley Memminger, Aloha, Lady Blue)
• "'What do people do here in the evening? The movies?' 'Just at present,' the girl told him, 'everybody visits Punahou ... to see the night-blooming cereus. It's the season now, you know.'" (Biggers, House Without a Key)

Alma Mater

School carnival in 2007

Oʻahu A

Oʻahu a, Oʻahu a
Punahou, our Punahou;
Mau a Mau, oh mau a mau,
Punahou, our Punahou.

Throughout the years we've shown our light,
We glory in Oʻahu's might;
The Buff and Blue's a glorious sight,
Punahou, our Punahou.

The song is sung to the tune of Maryland, My Maryland, also known as "O Tannenbaum". The lyrics are taken from a poem, "Oahu Wa," by then student Wilhelm Albert Gartner (1902).

School shout

Ready? Hit it!
Strawberry Shortcake, Huckleberry Pie
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
Are We In It? Well I Guess!
Punahou, Punahou, Yes, Yes, Yes!

This cheer is typically shouted by the marching band and cheerleaders at Punahou, at events such as football games and other sports activities and gatherings following the alma mater.

School mascot

Punahou does not have an official mascot. The closest thing is the hala tree, whose image is used in the school's seal. Fans often refer to athletic teams as the "Sons of Oahu", or "Buff & Blue". In 1890 the colors buff and blue officially became Punahou's school colors, representing sand and the sea. In 1890, long before the development of high-rises and hotels in Waikiki, all that was visible in the distance from the top of Punahou's campus was the buff-colored sand and blue-colored sea of Waikiki Beach.

See also

In Spanish: Punahou School para niños

• List of Punahou School alumni