Who We Are

Horizons Academy is the only private, non-profit, special education school in Maui County and one of only three in the State of Hawaii.  We teach K thru age 21.  We have a staff of 15 and are located in the town of Haiku in upcountry Maui, Hawaii.  Our campus consists of a 5000 square foot main building on one half acre of land.  The building houses six classrooms, two kitchens, a computer lab, counselor office, two therapy rooms, a reception area and business offices.

Our Mission – To empower children with learning and life challenges.

Fortunately, students with learning diversities can learn new cognitive processes that allow them to make significant academic gains.  Thus, it is essential for these students to receive the highest quality instruction combined with specialized curriculum to meet each child’s needs and to provide these teaching methods and curriculum in a personal, supportive atmosphere.

Why We Provide This Service

Over 8 million Americans have learning disabilities.  Of these over 2 million are children.  In Hawaii, 48% of third grade students score below the basic reading level and the number of children identified as learning disabled is the single largest category of students being served in special education programs in our state.  Research documents that children with inadequately treated learning disabilities are at-risk for developing antisocial behavior (i.e. oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder and delinquency).  It is estimated that 30 to 50 percent of adjudicated juveniles and adults have been found to have learning disabilities compared with 5 to 10 percent prevalence in the general population.  In fact, learning disabilities increase a child’s risk of delinquency by a staggering 220 percent.

Children and young adults with learning disabilities experience three times the dropout rate of their peers.  Of those who graduate, less than 2% attend a four-year college, despite the fact that many are above average in intelligence.  A survey of adolescents and young adults with histories of delinquent or criminal conduct indicates that approximately half have reading difficulties, and similar rates of reading failure are seen among kids with substance abuse problems.  No doubt, occupational and vocational independence and success are compromised.  As adults, these persons are often under-employed for their intelligence and as such have a higher risk of substance and alcohol abuse.  Society experiences a tremendous loss of human potential if no approprate educational intervention is taken.

The research is shocking regarding learning disabilities, literacy and behavioral disorders in our nation today.  It is even more saddening, if once having identified the learning problem at a correctable age, we do not use all possible resources and state-of-art effective teaching to change these statistics for students of our community.  The Horizons Academy of Maui staff has the desire and knowledge to teach students with learning diversities to read, write, spell compute and become successful contributing individuals in our community.

Horizons’ Success Since 1987

Overall, 220 children have been or are currently being served by Horizons’ full-day school program with an additional 136 children who have attended summer programs.  One hundred seventy-seven children have transitioned successfully back to mainstream classrooms on Maui and a few have continued in specialized schools on the mainland.

The alternative educational program at Horizons Academy has become widely know, respected and recognized on Maui and in the state of Hawaii for a number of reasons including:

• The quality individualized experiential program provided to each student attending Horizons Academy.

• The significant academic, behavioral and self-esteem gains that each student makes while attending Horizons.

• The successes being achieved by students who have transitioned out of the program and returned to mainstream schools.

• The successful community education programs and parent training workshops organized by Horizons.

• The high quality and expertise of the Horizons’ staff.

• Placement at Horizons Academy of public school students with learning disabilities by the Hawaii Department of Education.

In the past five years, families have moved to Maui from the outer islands, the continental U.S., Canada and Europe to enroll their children at Horizons Academy.

Our Staff

Horizons Academy is proud to have highly trained teachers on staff.  All of our teachers hold certified teaching degrees and have specialized training and certification in the field of learning disabilities, special education and effective teaching strategies.  In addition, we have mental health therapist, school counselor, sensory cognitive reading specialist and educational aides as needed by individual students.  Our Headmaster/CEO has worked the field of education and student services over 30 years.

Our Program

Horizons Academy’s faculty, administration and Board of Directors are committed to providing “best practices” in the field of special education.  With this mission, we research and identify the most effective programs, curricula and instruction tools to meet our students and schools needs.  Keys to our successful program include:

• Small, nurturing classes: With an average teacher to student ratio of one to eight.  Horizons Academy gives each student differentiated instruction to meet their individual needs.

• Academic achievement: Each student has an individualized education program to meet his/her unique strengths and weaknesses.  Once a program is developed, student achievement is assessed on a regular basis to ensure that the student is making academic progress in all subject areas.

• Specialized instruction:  The teaching staff at Horizons Academy uses research-based effective instructional strategies and standards-bases curriculum.  On-going adaptations occur in direct response to the specific needs of each student.

• High Behavioral Standards: Horizons Academy sets high behavioral and social standards for our students.  As part our curriculum, we provide instruction on social skills, problem solving, impulse control and anger management.

Program Directions

• Young Adult:  We at Horizons discussed and worried about children graduating but still not prepared for full integration into the community.  The young adult program provides some answers by providing experiential education.  All education is based on the individuals need and then based in the community.  Our goal is supporting each child in becoming as independent as they can.

• Our general program:  This is a K-12 program based on Hawaii State Standards but individualized to meet the educational goals of each child.