Office of Hawaiian Education

The Office of Hawaiian Education (OHE) was established in 2015 under the Hawaiʻi Department of Education’s Office of the Superintendent. OHE facilitates the implementation of three strategic priorities: Hawaiian Studies program, Ka Papahana Kaiapuni Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language Immersion) program and Nā Hopena Aʻo or HĀ. HĀ is a department-wide framework to develop the skills, behaviors and dispositions that are reminiscent of Hawaiʻi’s unique context and to honor the qualities and values of the indigenous language and culture of Hawaiʻi.

By increasing the visibility of and value for Hawaiian education approaches and developing communities of learners and communities of practice, OHE is focused on a vision that leads “to grounding the public education system in Hawaiian ways of knowing so that all of Hawaiʻi may thrive.”

The Foundation partners with OHE to support increased connections of schools, educators and students to ʻāina-based education opportunities and learning, through implementation of Nā Hopena Aʻo.