Kamehameha Schools - Campuses and Governance

Campuses and Governance

Kamehameha Schools operates three campuses, which together served 5,398 students K-12 in the 2011–12 school year. The main campus, established in 1887 as the Kamehameha Schools for Boys, occupies 600 acres (2.4 km2) on Kapālama Heights in Honolulu and served 3,196 students, including 550 boarding students from neighbor islands. The campus has more than 70 buildings, including numerous classroom buildings, dormitories, and maintenance shops. It also features extensive athletic facilities, including a 3,000-seat stadium, an Olympic-size swimming pool, three gymnasiums, and several tennis courts. In 2010, Kamehameha undertook a $118.5 million construction project featuring a brand-new middle school, a Hawaiian cultural center, a new athletics building, and a parking structure. While the Kaʻiwakīloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center was opened in October 2012, the entire project is expected to be completed in 2013.

The 180 acres (0.73 km2) Maui campus, established in 1996 in Pukalani, served 1,084 students. The 300 acres (1.2 km2) campus on the island of Hawaiʻi, established in 2001 in Keaʻau, served 1,118 students. In addition to three campuses, Kamehameha Schools operates thirty-one preschools throughout Hawaiʻi, which served 1,317 students statewide.

The five-member Board of Trustees of the Estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop administers the Schools. Each trustee may serve up to two five-year terms. The 1999 reorganization limited Board micromanagement. A Chief Executive Officer manages day-to-day operations and has autonomy over educational matters.

Bishop's original bequest consisted of 375,000 acres (1,520 km2) of land worth around $474,000. A 1995 Wall Street Journal article described Bishop Estate as "the nation's wealthiest charity," with an endowment estimated at $10 billion - greater than the combined endowments of Harvard and Yale universities. As of June 2011, the endowment was US$9.06 billion. Approximately 75% of the endowment is in financial assets, and 25% is in real estate; over 365,000 acres (1,480 km2) remain. However, the book value of the land for accounting purposes is probably much lower than fair market value. When compared against the endowments of major U.S. colleges and universities, only six schools (Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, Princeton University, University of Texas System, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology), each with much higher enrollments, have higher endowments than Kamehameha Schools.