Page 6 - MidWeek West - Feb 17, 2021

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FEBRUARY 17, 2021
DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach Opens Enrollment For Sixth Grade
BY GINGER KELLER
Today, DreamHouse, which launched at Laulani Village Shopping Center in 2017, boasts 200 students — and only plans to keep on growing.
went to public school — sit- ting in rows, staring at the front of the classroom with a chalkboard, and there’s an older person telling me what to do and what to read for homework.
“We provide all of the materials and supplies for our kids so the parents don’t pay a dime for them to come to our school,” shares Teece.
The formative conver- sations for DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach Public Char- ter School began nearly 10 years ago when an assem- blage of Westside commu- nity members sat down for a discussion.
“Perhaps in the past, good grades and a good ethic and graduating cum laude was important,” he adds. “It’s important for our kids to build empathy, build team- work skills, build critical thinking skills, and under- stand creativity and innova- tion, and how to be unique. Those are all things that we believe in the 21st century in this very different world we’ re growing into that our kids are going to need to know.”
It’s important for our kids
to build empathy, build teamwork skills, build critical thinking skills,
... and how to be unique
“They have five uniforms, backpacks, free lunch every day (and) one-to-one iPads.
“The start of Dream- House came from a group of Teach For America alumni, educators, parents and com- munity leaders sitting down and asking what it would take to start a new charter school in the state,” ex- plains founder and chief ed- ucation officer Alex Teece, who says the group was “literally Googling how to start a charter school.”
“We really go above and beyond to try and make sure that our kids can come to a free, public school that opens up opportunities for them to grow, develop and learn.”
When envisioning what would be at the core of their ideal education system, leadership, character and identity development were top of mind.
Exciting things are on the horizon for DreamHouse, including its recent move to a larger location in Kalae- loa, owned by Hunt Cos., Inc.
“Identify doesn’t neces- sarily pop up in a lot of pub- lic education curriculum ... but it was so important for our parents and communi- ty members to really build a program to help kids un- derstand who they were and what their connection and commitment was to our is- land,” shares Teece.
“The Kalaeloa region has traditionally been under- developed and really deso- late, and our hope is that we bring energy and families in and other organizations to the area to really revital- ize what is a traditionally and historically a very im- portant part of our island,” Teece says.
Kalaeloa-based charter school DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach designs its classroom settings to promote a nontraditional and innovative learning environment.
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high school students.
To that end, enrollment
For more information or to apply, visit dreamhou- seewabeach.org or check out its Instagram for daily updates (@dreamhouseew- abeach).
is now open for incoming sixth-graders for the 2021- 22 school year.
In the 1940s, the structure was a mess hall for military, says Teece, and with help from the development com- pany, the DreamHouse cam- pus will expand to match its growth over the next several years, as it becomes a school that serves 700 middle and
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“The entire design of our learning space is different than how I grew up when I
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DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach is welcoming incoming sixth-graders for its 2021-22 school year. PHOTOS COURTESY DREAMHOUSE ‘EWA BEACH
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