Quick Facts
Within the context of the Catholic tradition of education, Maryknoll School educates young people in Hawaii and prepares them to make lasting contributions to society.
We, your sons and daughters
Pledge ourselves to your ideals:
To the strength that comes from sacrifice,
To the courage that conquers self,
To the loyalty which defends your honor,
To the perseverance which gives victory to life,
By daring to imitate Him whom you represent.
To search for the truth is the goal we have in life
To hope, trust and honor the faith that we believe
To share with each other, the ideal of Maryknoll
That love is the greatest gift in life.
To you our loyal hearts we bring
Maryknoll, our Maryknoll
Thy fame shall through the ages ring
Maryknoll, our Maryknoll
As thy dear sons and daughters true
We’ll keep ideals we learned from you
We’ll love you then as now we do
Alma mater, Maryknoll
We love thy dear maroon and gold
Maryknoll, our Maryknoll
Our deep devotion it shall hold
Maryknoll, our Maryknoll
In days when we are far away
We’ll lift our faithful hearts to pray
That God may bless thy every day
Alma mater, Maryknoll
Alma Mater (1972, Virginia Lum)
To search for the truth is the goal we have in life.
To hope, trust and honor the faith that we believe.
To share with each other the ideal of Maryknoll
That love is the greatest gift in life.
The students at Maryknoll School are welcomed into a small school setting, serving grades pre-kindergarten through grade 12, where personal development and scholastic achievement are equally respected values. As a Diocesan, Catholic, co-educational institution, Maryknoll School is committed to providing each student with a quality education directed toward developing the whole child, through cultivation of knowledge, self-discipline, creativity, spiritual and physical growth.
Recognizing that it is not enough to be a learned person, Maryknoll strives to develop individuals of integrity and personal responsibility through emphasis on moral excellence. Students are encouraged to discover social attitudes intended to ensure the dignity of every person through the exercise of justice, respect, and equality without regard to religious, social, or cultural background. Maryknoll School aspires to prepare its students for the contemporary world, to equip them with the tools necessary to recognize those areas in need of change and to encourage them to work intelligently with others in building a society of true and lasting peace and justice.
EXPECTED SCHOOLWIDE LEARNING RESULTS
This statement of our expected school-wide learning results is a living document which guides our efforts as a learning community. In addition to serving as guides to what we do from day to day, they serve as reminders of the very foundation of the school. Although not explicitly stated in each result, these learning results emerge from an understanding of the centrality of the religious, moral and ethical principles revealed in the Gospel, manifested in the Roman Catholic Church, and expressed in the unique charism of Maryknoll.
Habits of the Mind:
• To become a creative and critical thinker and problem solver
• To accept responsibility for learning and value it as a life-long process
Habits of the Heart:
• To practice moral values and understand the gospel, as expressed in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church
• To understand, appreciate, and participate in the arts
• To respect self and others
• To value the importance of physical well-being
• To accept responsibility for personal choices
• To seize the challenges of the future with optimism
Habits of the Community:
• To contribute time, energy, and talents to improve the quality of life in our school, community, and nation while striving for a world of peace and justice
• To value human diversity and demonstrate understanding of other peoples, languages, cultures, and experiences
• To demonstrate positive social relations and to participate in effective collaboration
• To communicate effectively
The vision that is Maryknoll School began with a young priest and six Maryknoll Sisters more than 80 years ago. When Maryknoll School was blessed in 1927, there were 93 boys and 77 girls. The six Maryknoll Sisters, who had arrived from New York just four days before opening day, comprised the first faculty. The school was a one-story wooden frame building, containing four classrooms, on Dole Street.
Honolulu was not without Catholic schools at the time; excellent private schools conducted by congregations of religious men and women from Europe and patterned on European values and ideas existed. The American Sisters, however, believing that education of choice should be open to everyone, set out to establish a co-ducational, parish school. Families in the parish, as well as other families desiring to have their children educated in the American way, were invited to send their children to the school.
Within four years, the Sisters knew that expansion was necessary. In 1931, the first freshman class was enrolled and in 1935 the first thirteen graduates of the only Catholic, co-educational high school in Hawaii received their diplomas. The high school division continued at Dole Street until 1948 when it was moved to the former MacDonald Hotel on Punahou Street. In August 1953, the present high school facility was dedicated. The passage of time brought many changes. As their neighborhood transformed from small frame cottages to high-rise condominiums, the Dole Street families began to leave. Nevertheless, they continued to send their children and grandchildren to Maryknoll. As the school became less and less parish oriented, most of the Maryknoll Sisters, whose mission it is to found, establish, train, and move on, left to pursue new endeavors.
Today, Maryknoll has a total enrollment of close to 1400 students across all grade levels. Grades pre-kindergarten to eight comprise the grade school campus; grades nine to twelve make up the high school campus. The faculty and staff numbers 150 and consists primarily of lay men and women.
As the only Catholic institution on Oahu offering a co-educational program from pre-kindergarten through grade twelve, Maryknoll School remains unique in the community. The vibrant family spirit carried forth by the faculty and staff, in a combined effort with the students, continues to promote excellence in education. The most recent reflection of Maryknoll’s commitment to excellence is its acceptance into the Coalition of Essential Schools in January, 1995.
When Maryknoll School opened its doors to 170 students in September 1927, it was a one-story building on Dole Street. As the area grew to become the most densely populated residential neighborhood in Honolulu, the school also grew.
Today the grade school and high school occupy seven buildings on two campuses. The grade school campus on Dole Street services grades pre-kindergarten through eight. In 1965, two modern classroom buildings replaced the wooden structures that had been in use since the 1940’s. In 1978, the Knoll Building containing the Early Childhood Education Program, Art Center, Snack Bar, and classrooms was added. In 1992, expansion continued with the addition of a third floor in Building B, and the grade school was completely air conditioned in 2002.
The high school is located on Punahou Street, three blocks from the grade school. The campus remained essentially unchanged until the library was renovated extensively to include a state of the art computer center. A second story, now called “Founders’ Hall”, was built above the existing locker room in 1996, to add additional classrooms, office space, and a prayer room. In 1999, the high school was completely air conditioned. With the exception of the school principals and vice-principals, all Maryknoll administrators have offices in the Administration Building on Alexander Street. Maryknoll continues to actively purchase property in the proximity of the campuses for future use.
Maryknoll School attracts students from varied ethnic, socio-economic and religious groups. Many students are Catholic, but students of all faiths are accepted and attend. More than 90 percent of the students commute to school from areas outside Sacred Heart Parish. In general, the students are average to superior in scholastic ability and achievement. Through financial assistance programs, the school attempts to provide opportunities for qualified students from all socio-economic backgrounds to attend Maryknoll. Maryknoll School does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, national origin, age, or disability (if, with reasonable accommodation on the part of the school, the disabled person can be accommodated) in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and financial aid programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.