Insight-Onsite 2023 at Waipahu High started off with opening remarks from State Superintendent Keith Hayashi. Supt. Hayashi shared the Board of Education Strategic Plan and how Academies can support HIDOE efforts to meet those goals. He thanked the participants for attending the conference and learning more about how they can supplement learning at their schools through Academies.
Participants were able to tour different Academies and programs to interact with students and teachers to learn about the successes and challenges of building and sustaining their academies. In total, all participants visited four Academies and multiple Pathways during the two-day conference.
Breakout sessions provided a variety of topics including a session that featured Principals from our feeder Middle School and one of our feeder Elementary Schools. During their session, Principal Sheets and the other Principals talked about the importance to maintain a dialogue with each other and continue to looks for ways to support each others efforts. They pointed out efforts to open their schools so that students could learn about the programs they would eventually be a part of as they continue their education journey in the complex. They concluded their session by reminding school leaders to keep and open mind and continue to take opportunities to learn and share their best practices.
Other sessions talked about different aspects of building an Academy structure. Sessions covered Teacher team building, interdisciplinary projects, interacting with business partners and academic interventions. Speakers talked about their challenges and the benefits of addressing each aspect to sustain the cultural environment of a thriving Academy. Building a sense of belonging goes a long way to support the academy structure.
Waipahu High School would like to thank all the participants for visiting the campus. Special thanks and appreciation goes out to the entire Waipahu High school community (Admin, certificated and classified staff and students) for the teamwork to put on this conference, for welcoming our visitors and for sharing.