Mililani Middle School administrators joined staff, students, parents and community leaders in dedicating a new three-story, 15-classroom building that will enable the state’s largest middle school to adopt a single-track calendar for the upcoming 2022-23 school year.

What You Need To Know

  • Mililani Middle was operating on a multi-track schedule that allowed three-fourths of students to be on campus at the same time

  • The school serves 1,600 students, drawn from five feeder elementary schools, the largest enrollment of any middle school in the state

  • With the new building, the school can now operate on a single, year-round track

  • The new building cost an estimated $16.8 million

“The new classroom facilities will create engaging learning spaces for Mililani Middle’s students to achieve academic success,” said Department of Education interim superintendent Keith Hayashi. “The adoption of a single-track calendar will help the school maintain a consistent schedule for students and families.”

Mililani Middle serves some 1,660 students in grades 6 to 8 who come from five elementary feeder schools in the Mililani Complex. To provide equitable access to classrooms, teachers and facilities, school currently operates on a year-round, multi-track schedule that allows three-fourths of the student body to be in school at any given time.

“Our new classroom building will help to improve the quality of life for all of our students and their families moving forward,” said principal Elynne Chung. “After 24 years on a multi-track calendar, our upcoming switch to a single track will mean our families who have other children at the elementary or high school levels will be able to coordinate their daily schedules more easily, including aspects that are easily taken for granted, like scheduling child care, medical appointments, commutes and family trips.”

When the new school year begins on Aug. 1, the entire student body will be on campus at the same time for the first time since the school’s opening in 1998.

“Many families like mine are thankful for this new building because it means my school schedule will finally match with my siblings at the elementary and high school,” said seventh-grader Paul Gardner. “I’m more excited about having all of my friends on campus with me at the same time ... I know there are many students like us who are stoked to be learning in these new spaces next year.”

The new classroom building was built on approximately one acre of land previously owned by the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation that was formerly part of the adjacent Mililani Mauka Community Park. It includes 34,000 square feet of space, along with utilities and a parking area off of Kuaoa Street at an approximate construction cost of $16.8 million.  

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii.