By Lisa Dahm and Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
After months of trying to raise the funds necessary to keep its doors open, St. Michael School in Waialua will close its kindergarten through eighth grade classes in the next academic year.
“For more than 82 years, St. Michael School has been the heart of the North Shore, a place where generations of children were nurtured not only in academics, but in faith, character and a true sense of belonging,” said Nicolle Baron, principal of St. Michael School, in a statement to the Hawaii Catholic Herald. “It has been more than a school; it has been a home for families, a foundation for lifelong friendships, and a thread that has quietly held this community together.”
Kainoa Fukumoto, who has played key roles at St. Michael for more than 15 years as a teacher, administrator, board member and parent, said the closure is a profound loss for him and for the community.
“As the last Catholic school on this side of the island, its loss is significant,” said Fukumoto, who currently is the associate director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Honolulu. “Still, I remain proud of the lasting impact the school has had on the countless families it has served, including my own.”
The last elementary school closure occurred in 2024 on Kauai, when St. Catherine School in Kapaa announced it would cease operations.
Earlier this year, St. Anthony School in Wailuku, Maui, said it would not continue its high school in the upcoming academic year.
Mounting challenges
In a letter dated April 30 to the St. Michael School community, Baron and Father Romple Emwalu, pastor of St. Michael Church, explained that the K-8 closure is due to financial challenges and “lower-than-needed enrollment.”
Father Emwalu told the Hawaii Catholic Herald that the school faced a late April deadline to meet its financial obligation to the Diocese of Honolulu. Its debt was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the administration determined that the school needed to enroll at least 70 students for the upcoming academic year in order to cover teacher salaries.
Low enrollment was an ongoing issue, with only 73 K-8 students this year. Father Emwalu said that increases in the cost of living and other expenses have affected the ability of families to afford a Catholic school education.
St. Michael was making progress with fundraising but was still well short of the goal when a devastating pair of Kona low storms struck the islands in March.
An anonymous donor offered to assist, but even with this support, the school could not reach the needed funds.
“The community has been very helpful,” Father Emwalu said. “They’re being very generous in supporting what we were asking of them, and not only financially generous, but they tried their best to reach out to invite more families so that we can boost our enrollment.”
According to the letter, families will be reimbursed for any tuition or program fees already paid for next year.
Father Emwalu said that while the K-8 grades will cease operations next year, the school is evaluating whether to continue offering a preschool, since there is a need in the community.
He said he is in contact with Hawaii Catholic Schools and the diocesan Finance Office to work out a plan to keep the preschool in operation, possibly even for summer school.
North Shore mainstay
The school played an important role in the community when the Kona low storms inundated the state, opening its doors to provide shelter and relief despite its own challenges.
After the storms, when community members learned about the school’s financial hardships, they “just flocked in” and wanted to help, according to Father Emwalu. Despite the community support, the response was not enough to save the school.
“It’s going to be painful, but we just have to make the right decisions,” Father Emwalu said. “It doesn’t mean it’s the end, but hopefully, who knows? Maybe we can give a pause, maybe we can come back.”
Baron said in her statement that “my connection to St. Michael runs deep.”
The 1999 graduate, her brother and many other family members “walked these same halls,” she said. Her mother also served as a teacher’s aide.
“That is why it is so difficult to comprehend that, after decades of serving this community, we had to close due to ongoing financial obligations and declining enrollment,” Baron said.
St. Michael School began as a kindergarten in February 1944 during World War II, according to a history on its website. The campus expanded both its facilities and student population until it became a full-fledged K-8 elementary school five years later.
Maryknoll Sisters staffed St. Michael School until 1969, when the religious order had to withdraw its leadership. For four years the campus had lay educators and only served six grades; then, in 1973, Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena arrived at the request of Honolulu Bishop John Scanlan to restore stability.
The school made great strides under Franciscan Sister William Marie Eleniki, who became principal in 1992. Sister Eleniki oversaw the addition of a preschool, library and computer lab to the campus.
Lay leadership returned in 2008 with Principal Deanna M.B. Arecchi, during whose tenure the campus continued to expand both physically, with new construction, and spiritually, with a focus on community-centered projects.
Fukumoto was named principal in 2017, with the goals of strengthening 21st-century learning and the school’s Catholic identity. He was followed by Dallas Carter, who had been a teacher and the vice principal, in 2023; Baron assumed the role of principal last year.
Above: Top, Damien Hall was home to St. Michael School’s first students in 1944; the hall has been expanded and renovated numerous times. Bottom, a statue of St. Michael the Archangel looks over the campus. (Photos by Celia K. Downes / Hawaii Catholic Herald)