Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

St. Anthony, Kailua, student has best in her grade-level handwriting in the country

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By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald A fourth grader at St. Anthony School in Kailua has some of the best handwriting in the country. That’s according to the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest. Apollina Recupero made it past several other levels of competition to be judged the best fourth grade entrant across the country and that […]

Top teacher

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Rica Velasco, right, of St. Joseph School in Waipahu is the 2022 Golden Pineapple Teacher of the Year awardee. She was recognized at the annual Hawaii Catholic Schools Recognition Luncheon on May 19 at the Natsunoya Tea House in Honolulu. The award is given by the Hawaii Catholic Schools office, Chaminade University of Honolulu, and […]

Catholic schools office employee retires after 58 years

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By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald Barbara Yamasaki doesn’t want us writing about her retirement. The fast-talking, jovial administrative secretary has been with the Diocese of Honolulu’s Hawaii Catholic Schools department since 1964, making her one of the longest-serving lay diocesan employees ever. But that doesn’t mean we should make a big deal about her […]

Red Mass: Superintendent tells how schools fought COVID with faith, science

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By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald On the day the COVID-19 infection rate roared to a new single-day record of 6,252 in Hawaii, a positive message was being heard at the annual Red Mass, Jan. 18, at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace — the story of how Hawaii’s Catholic schools faced down […]

All school COVID cases originated elsewhere, superintendent says

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By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald The Hawaii Catholic Herald checked in with superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools Llewellyn Young in early October to ask about the COVID-19 case numbers in parochial and private Catholic schools in Hawaii. Here are some highlights of his response. At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, 40 total […]

Five Hawaii Catholic schools offering free and reduced-price meals

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Five Hawaii Catholic schools are offering free and reduced-price meals for children unable to pay the full price of meals served under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program for the 2021-2022 school year. When the information is known by the school, the school will notify households if their children are eligible for […]

Chaminade, Catholic Schools announce innovation awards

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Chaminade University’s Center for Strategy and Innovation in partnership with Hawaii Catholic Schools last month announced the two recipients of the 2021 Ka Ho‘oulu Innovation Awards. Winning the individual award was Devin Oshiro, principal of Saint Louis School. Taking the institution award was St. Joseph School in Waipahu. The awards recognize innovation that has “greatly […]

New preschool director back where she started her career

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Note and correction: The story below missed the deadline for inclusion in the profiles of new Catholic school administrators which ran in the last issue of the Hawaii Catholic Herald. The Herald would also like to correct one of those profiles. The title for Sister Gina Senapilo, OP, at St. Catherine School, Kapaa, is “interim […]

And now, the good news …

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The pandemic brings record enrollment to some Hawaii Catholic schools By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald The trend for Hawaii Catholic schools for many years has been declining enrollment. But along with all the uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, some local parochial schools have found an unexpected boost to their student numbers. Parents tired […]