Here’s to Founders’ Day!

What a fantastic day to celebrate our school’s founding 49 years ago! Our students got to hear new stories of our origins for our school birthday, and we are so appreciative of our four founders who could join us, Peggy Ellenberg, Lindsay Kamm, Denise Kaufman, and Merlyn Ruddell. To make the day extra special they were joined by Lynne Roth, sister of founder Rochelle Karter and Island School’s first cook, and Mary Alfiler, Island School music teacher of 20+ years. This year I asked them to focus on our Hawaiian values that we emphasize during the third quarter: "Mālama" and "Lōkahi" - working together, having a role as a part of a group working towards a larger goal, interconnectedness. Together, through song and dance, they helped our students understand how, through their efforts to care for the community they were building and truly working together as a team and valuing their interconnectedness with each other and the larger community, they brought Island School out of the water and into being.

 

It is such a pleasure to gather all our students together, not only to listen and learn from our Founders, but also to take our annual all-school photo. And as you can imagine, just like any multi-generational family photo, this is no small task, but it is worth it every time! We look forward to sharing this year’s photo with you soon. I hope your children came home with a feeling of celebration for our School and hopefully an appreciation for what it means to be both a recipient of the gift that those before you have done, and also accept our kuleana to mālama that gift as they did today in taking care of our School through their combined efforts, a true living of lōkahi.

 

And with our 49th Birthday down, that means our 50th is just around the corner! Please join us on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 5pm-6:30pm for our annual Town Hall. Board President Sam Pratt and I will discuss the State of the School and projections for next year AND we will have special engagement time to gain your input about how we think about our strategic future. This strategic thinking process is led by our Board of Directors, and it requires input from ALL our constituents. You will be seeing more about this process soon, but for now, please hold the date on your calendar for January 27, and join us to engage about both the present and the future for Island School. We’ll have good food and childcare for K-5 if that helps you be able to participate!

 

And finally, so much gratitude for sponsors, donations, ticket purchases, and volunteers coming in as we look forward to our community joining together for the Island School Annual Gala on March 7, 2026. Mahalo for joining us in whatever way you can to help us make this event a history-making success. 

As always, mahalo for being a part of the Island School ʻohana and for all the ways you mālama our community. 

Together,

Nancy Nagramada P’29

Head of School

n.nagramada@ischool.org