Sacred Hearts School blesses new temporary campus, a hopeful step toward returning to Lahaina
A Sacred Hearts School staff member in tears inside a new classroom at the temporary campus in Kāʻanapali. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now- The kindergarten classroom at Sacred Hearts School in Kāʻanapali. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now
- Fr. Kuriakose Nadooparambil of Maria Lanakila Catholic Church and Sacred Hearts Mission Church sprinkles holy water throughout the new campus on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now
- Students performed hula in their school colors to honor their past and celebrate their future. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now
- Roger May, landlord of the Kāʻanapali property, congratulates stakeholders and faculty on their efforts to make the school come to fruition. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now
- Maile Ceremony featuring Mayor Richard Bissen, Michael Capponi of Global Empowerment Mission, Fr. Ken Deasy, Ed Freedman of Stable Road Foundation, Fr. Peter Laupapa Tauf A’Asau, Principal Tonata Lolesio, Rodger and Lisa May, Fr. Kuriakose Nadooparambil, N. Allison Pfaendler of FEMA, Mgr. Terry Watanabe, Michael and Chuen Yee of MCYIA Interior Architecture and Design, and Dr. Llewellyn Young of Hawaii Catholic Schools. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now
- Inside a classroom at the new temporary campus, teachers are getting ready to welcome students back for the 2024-2025 school year. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now
- Sacred Hearts Schools brings playgrounds to its temporary location in Kaanapali, a play space students did not have last year. PC: JD Pells / Maui Now
Spirits were lifted for hundreds of West Maui families this week, as Sacred Hearts School celebrated the blessing of their new temporary campus on Friday.
“Today is a wonderful day because we gathered together in the sight of a great miracle,” said Monsignor Terry Watanabe, pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Church. “As we gather together, we are truly experiencing the great love that people have for our keiki o ka ʻāina.”
Located just mauka of the Kāʻanapali Beach Resort, the new campus features 13 air-conditioned classrooms, including spaces for the Early Learning Center, preschool, and K-8 education. Additionally, there is a multipurpose enrichment classroom for PE, art, music, and Hawaiian studies, a counseling center operated in partnership with Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi, and outdoor facilities for four square, hopscotch, and pickleball. The entire project, estimated at $2.5 million over three years, was made possible through generous contributions of community members and organizations.
“We’ll soon be teaching in a place with four walls, air conditioning and a playground,” said Principal Tonata Lolesio at the Sacred Hearts School event on Friday.
Road to Kāʻanapali
The past year had seen Sacred Hearts School Lahaina “Crusaders” navigating immense challenges.
In a Martin Luther King Jr. activity months ago, one second grader had written, “I have a dream that one day Sacred Hearts School will have a campus.”
After half of their original campus next to Maria Lanakila Church was destroyed in the wildfire on Aug. 8, 2023, displacing over 220 students and 17 teachers, the school community swiftly set up an emergency site at Sacred Hearts Mission Church in Kapalua, which opened 20 days later on Aug. 28.
Despite limited facilities — classroom-tents with no air conditioning or electricity in the yard and makeshift classrooms in the church’s courtyard — its faculty, many of whom had lost their own homes, were determined to keep the school open. “Closing was not an option,” said Principal Lolesio.
“Kapalua became our home. Kapalua allowed us to look forward and feel supported in a time of uncertainty,” said eighth grade teacher Dr. Patty Wurst. “God watched over us and gifted us with resilience and flexibility.”
The search for a more permanent school began in November 2023, with construction commencing in February 2024 and being completed this June.
A collaborative effort — including school officials, the Diocese of Honolulu, Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), the Stable Road Foundation, Hawaiʻi Off Grid and numerous others — gave way to the new Kāʻanapali campus at 2530 Kekaha Drive.
To help finance the rebuilding of Sacred Hearts School, GEM Founder and President Capponi reached out to a friend on Maui, Ed Freedman, founder of the Stable Road Foundation. In response Freedman raised and donated $1 million.
The land for the school was leased at a discounted rate by Roger May, the owner of Pineapple Properties. “It’s open-ticket until they’re done,” said May, when asked about the duration of the lease.
“It gives me goosebumps watching this thing come together,” said May. “You just can’t describe the hard work, the amount of people, the mayor’s dedication to this project.
The temporary campus also features the school’s original statue of Jesus that was untouched in the 2023 wildfire. The statue is now parked on a pedestal in the middle of the new school, along with donor bricks in the center courtyard, with Jesus facing the direction of Lahaina.
The school’s principal says the new temporary campus can accommodate up to 250 students. Its enrollment currently sits about 180 students. The school also welcomed the return of its preschool and critical day-care services, which were not a feature last year.
For those interested in supporting Sacred Hearts School and its mission, opportunities for fundraising and tuition assistance are available. The school’s $4 million Tuition Assistance Campaign is ongoing, with all donations welcome. For more information, visit www.shsmaui.org.
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