La Pietra
La Pietra, Hawaii School For Girls | |
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Address | |
2933 Poni Moi Road NCGS | |
Website | www.lapietra.edu |
La Pietra: Hawaii School for Girls, also referred to as La Pietra or Hawaii School for Girls, is a private school for girls in grades 6–12 located in
History
Heiau site
The site was near or partially on an ancient Hawaiian
Founding
During the
The portion which is now the school was left by Dillingham to Punahou School. Unable to use the building, Punahou was anxious to sell it. After a period in which there were few interested buyers (Punahou was asking $1 million for the estate), Lorraine Day Cooke (wife of Richard Aexander Cooke Jr., who was grandson of Charles Montague Cooke and great-grandson of Amos Starr Cooke, co-founder of Castle & Cooke) and Mrs. Garner Anthony raised the funds. They had started a Hawaii School for Girls at Central Union Church. Plans were developed by architect John Tatom and his assistant Tom Fanning. Work to convert the estate into a school was done by parent volunteers and the Dillingham's Hawaiian Dredging Company. Hawaii School for Girls moved into the site at the start of the 1969-1970 school year. In 1976 a new six-classroom building was constructed on the site of the old swimming pool. This building, designed by Leo Wou, was intended to mirror the architecture of the Dillingham villa.
The school is located at 2933 Poni Moi Road, 21°15′40″N 157°48′57″W / 21.26111°N 157.81583°W.
Kapiʻolani Park
La Pietra is just a few hundred yards above Honolulu's Kapiʻolani Park. As swamp land in a desert, the land became a park specifically because it wasn't considered suitable for anything else. It is one of the few places on Oahu where rain rarely falls. Because La Pietra has limited space for athletics, Kapiʻolani Park is used for physical education classes and training for soccer and cross country running teams.
School heads
Joseph Pynchon was founding headmaster at La Pietra from its inception in 1964 until his retirement at the end of the 1990-1991 school year. He joined La Pietra from ʻ
Nancy White, La Pietra's third Head of School, retired in June 2007 after twelve years. White began her teaching career at Kamehameha Schools in 1962.[5] She also taught at Mid-Pacific Institute, a private school on O'ahu.
Nancy White was replaced by Mahina Eleneki Hugo, La Pietra's middle school dean. She was the fourth headmistress of the school. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's in education in private school leadership from the University of Hawaii.
Mahina Hugo was replaced by Dr. Joshua Watson. Prior to joining La Pietra, Dr. Watson served as the Assistant Principal for Student Life at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu. Dr. Watson serves as the current Head of School. [6]
References
- ^ "Tales of Temples," in All About Hawaii, 1904 University of Michigan Press
- ^ Downwindproductions.com - Waikiki Historic Places
- ^ J Gilmar, Historic Hawai'i News, November 1983
- ^ Honolulu Star Bulletin Wed. June 4, 2008
- ^ Pacific Business News, June 1, 2007
- ^ "Dr. Josh Watson Named New Head of School". April 21, 2017. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
External links
- "La Pietra - Hawaii School For Girls". school web site. Retrieved June 8, 2010.