| Name |
Ka'u High & Intermediate School |
| Address |
96-3150 Pikake Street |
| Municipality |
Pahala, Hawaii 96777 |
| Established |
1881 |
| Community |
Rural |
| Type |
Public |
| Principal |
Sharon Beck |
| Grades |
K to 12 |
| Accreditation |
Western Association of Schools and Colleges |
| Mascot |
Trojans |
| Colors |
Maroon White |
| Website | |
Ka'u High & Pahala Elementary School is a public, co-educational high school, middle school and elementary school of the Hawaii State Department of Education. It serves grades kindergarten through twelve and was established in 1881. It was the first high school established on the Big Island and third high school established in the State after Lahainaluna High School on Maui and President William McKinley High School, formerly Honolulu High School on Oahu. The high school was established due to the Ka'u Sugar Company opening, which employed a high number of immigrants who wanted their children to get a high school education, and at the time was one of the largest sugar plantations in the state along with being the most remote. Honokaa High & Intermediate School was established on the north end of the island 8 years later for the same reasons.
Contents |
Ka'u High & Pahala Elementary School is located in Pahala in Hawaii County on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The campus is located at 96-3150 Pikake Street. The school's only feeder school is Naalehu Elementary and Intermediate School. The mascot is the Trojans and its school colors are maroon and white.
Pahala High & Elementary School was started in 1881 for students from the rural Pahala Sugar Community. The high school was established along with a middle school and an elementary school. The Original buildings on campus are still in use including the main high school building, two other high school buildings, the gymnasium, the elementary school buildings and cafeteria. The H building and the G building are the original school buildings, dating back to 1881. In 1940, the school was renamed Ka'u High and Pahala Elementary School due to the drop in enrollment at Naalehu, which once had a high school. Ka'u High & Pahala Elementary School has only one feeder school, Naalehu Elementary and Intermediate School, located in Naalehu, Hawaii, which is 13 miles south.
In 1881, the H and G buildings were built on campus. In 1909, the gymnasium and both elementary school buildings were constructed just south of the H and G buildings. A year later the main high school/administration building was completed along with a new athletic field in front of the school. A pool was constructed adjacent to the gymnasium in 1968. No new buildings were built on the campus until 1977, when the M building was completed. In 1980, a new Physical Education building with locker rooms (N building), along with a new lighted athletic field was constructed. In 1982 the Agriculture building (I building) was completed. In 1991, the Industrial Arts building (Q building) was completed. The last building constructed is the F building, which was completed in 1999.
The school remains rural, with a student body of only around 800.
Ka'u High & Pahala Elementary School's commencement exercises are normally held during the first week of June