{"id":56,"date":"2026-05-14T19:36:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T19:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56"},"modified":"2026-05-14T19:36:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T19:36:56","slug":"its-gonna-be-very-devastating-five-hawaii-island-early-childhood-education-sites-to-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Laughter and squeals of joy filled the air on a recent Wednesday morning at the site of the Mountain View Ka Pa\u2018alana Preschool, where toddlers, parents and teachers gather to play, do crafts and learn four days a week.<\/p>\n

Read more Champs! Ka Makani lacrosse wins 2nd Founder\u2019s Cup in 3 years<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Laughter and squeals of joy filled the air on a recent Wednesday morning at the site of the Mountain View Ka Pa\u2018alana Preschool, where toddlers, parents and teachers gather to play, do crafts and learn four days a week.<\/p>\n

However, the site \u2014 which is part of a network of early childhood education programs across the state run by the nonprofit Partners in Development Foundation \u2014 is slated to close at the end of this school year, along with 16 of its other Ka Pa\u2018alana, Tutu and Me and other early childhood education programs, due to lack of federal funding.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

According to PIDF Chief Operating Officer Terry Nakamura, the programs have previously relied primarily on grants from the U.S. Department of Education\u2019s Native Hawaiian Education Program, which he estimates has made up about 72% of their budget \u2014 until this year when it was slashed to zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, with lots and lots of uncertainty and changes affecting the USDOE and NHEP that, in turn, has affected us,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, right now, we\u2019re in our final year of our three-year grants for both Tutu and Me and Ka Pa\u2018lana, which end at the end of August this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said PIDF has been working to secure funding from other sources, but currently only has enough to sustain 19 of 36 sites statewide. Of the sites closing, five are on Hawaii Island.<\/p>\n

The closures on Hawaii Island will impact nearly 250 children and result in the loss of jobs for around 20 staff members. <\/p>\n

Royce Kurihara is a parent in the Mountain View Ka Pa\u2018alana program which focuses on parent education in addition to child development, with an emphasis on families experiencing homelessness. He said the program has been a valuable resource and source of community for his family, and its absence will be felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is just so unfortunate overall. I feel like that\u2019s the word to describe it, because it gives a lot of families space to go to, especially like a safe, positive, situation and taking it away, especially for families who could be houseless,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s going to be a huge loss for the community \u2026 it\u2019s just unfortunate that they\u2019re closing that many, especially here on Big Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marchele Rapoza, the family education coordinator at the Mountain View site, said she was heartbroken by the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in a community that I believe really needs it because we\u2019re in a rural community. There\u2019s a high need in this area up here,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a need especially for early childhood (education) for families who can\u2019t afford to take their children to preschool. This is one of the programs that has really helped and benefited them, because it not only helps develop keikis\u2019 social skills, it helps makua develop their social skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other side of the island, the impact is also being felt.<\/p>\n

Annette Loo, the site manager for PIDF\u2019s two Tutu and Me programs in the Kona area \u2014 both of which will be closing \u2014 said they currently serve approximately 60 families in the area.<\/p>\n

Similarly to the Ka Pa\u2018alana program, Tutu and Me emphasizes integrated, family-focused education that directly involves parents and other caregivers in their kids\u2019 learning by allowing them to attend classes with the children and are free to participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be very devastating,\u201d Loo said. \u201cWhen our families found out, many of them shed tears and just said that they feel so sad, and they\u2019ve been thinking, like, what are their next steps? Because they can\u2019t afford any type of preschool setting for their child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Hawaii shelters inadequate against hurricanes<\/a><\/p>\n

Napua Rasay, a parent of three who has participated in the Kona Tutu and Me program with her children for the past four years, said she felt PIDF programs have helped fill a gap in opportunities for early childhood education in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a huge loss, especially on the Kona side of the island,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so sad, because we have no resources. There are, like slim to none \u2014 I couldn\u2019t even think of another resource here, especially for Native Hawaiian children, that is easily accessible to everyone. This is a free program that has served our community for so long, and now it\u2019s just unavailable.\u201d<\/p>\n

PIDF\u2019s early childhood education programs put an emphasis on Hawaiian culture and language, which Rasay said has been especially valuable to her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir emphasis on Hawaiian culture was so amazing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re Native Hawaiian, my children, and I want them to \u2018olelo, and I want them to learn about their culture \u2026 when they\u2019re coming to Tutu and Me, it\u2019s embedded throughout the entire class.\u201d<\/p>\n

PIDF COO Nakamura said the decision about which sites to close and which to keep open was based on a variety of different factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of them are unimportant. They\u2019re all super valuable,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we looked at things like enrollment numbers per site, also just the folks they were serving \u2014 so remote rural areas, vulnerable populations, such as Native Hawaiian, things like that. Also, some of our sites have specific funding just for those sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nakamura said he feels the funding cuts are reflective of a larger trend of early childhood education being undervalued and unfunded at the federal and state level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were hoping for some increased funding at the state level. We were supporting some bills, which unfortunately didn\u2019t pass,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re concerned about some of the shifts in funding for different programs like ours and the long-term impacts it would have on children and then future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

While PIDF has been able to raise $4.9 million in alternate funding for the next year, he said, in order to keep all of the sites open, an additional approximately $7.5 million is needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not given up, and we\u2019re still fighting every week, trying to engage other partners that have the same vision and to help support these programs,\u201d he said. \u201cWe as a company have not given up, and so we\u2019ll continue to do all we can to try to save these sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Mountain View, Rapoza is also holding out some hope for her site and community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope and pray some type of miracle happens and that, if we can\u2019t stay open, that at least a program similar to it can open up to fulfill the needs up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder eke out sweep-sealing win over Lakers<\/a><\/p>\n

Email Grace Inez Adams at grace.adams@hawaiitribune-herald.com.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close – Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T19:36:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"570\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T19:36:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56\"},\"wordCount\":1179,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56\",\"name\":\"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T19:36:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp\",\"width\":760,\"height\":570},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=56#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Moving to Hawaii Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Moving to Hawaii Guide","og_description":"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald","og_url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56","og_site_name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","article_published_time":"2026-05-14T19:36:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":760,"height":570,"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"headline":"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close","datePublished":"2026-05-14T19:36:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56"},"wordCount":1179,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56","name":"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close - Moving to Hawaii Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-14T19:36:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/097e297c2208318c40c054cc3f9fcfbf.webp","width":760,"height":570},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=56#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018It\u2019s gonna be very devastating\u2019: Five Hawaii Island early childhood education sites to close"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/","name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}