About Us

Kūlaniākea’s Hawaiian immersion preschool & kindergarten in Kāneʻohe centers Hawaiian language, culture, and values in an effort to enrich and uplift the Hawaiian identity.

Kūlaniākea provides students with regular access to outdoor classrooms at Papahana Kuaola, and on board Kaʻihekauila, a 30ft double-hulled sailing canoe named after our founder’s father.  This 501(c)3 nonprofit organization also creates curriculum and educational materials to help facilitate the learning of ʻike kupuna.

We operate a preschool & kindergarten in Kāneʻohe on the island of Oʻahu with the intent to one day grow into serving elementary and middle school age students.  We also create curriculum and educational materials that promote foundational learning of Hawaiian language and cultural practices such as voyaging and navigation. These educational materials reach those who have the ʻiʻini (desire) to learn but are not able to be a part of our programs, whether in Hawaiʻi or elsewhere in the world. Some of these materials are also meant to serve as templates for other indigenous cultures to promote learning of their own ancestral wisdom. 

Kūlaniākea is a non-profit educational organization serving Native Hawaiian communities through multi-generational dual language opportunities and culturally appropriate education materials.

Proceeds from purchases benefit the advancement of indigenous education.