Good Thing I Like Puzzles…

I feel blessed to be one of those people in the world who gets to say that I love my job. I love how I get to interact with people. I love the beautiful Kaua‘i community in which I get to live. I love to work hard and see the full lives of our students from the classroom to the stage, playing field, or waterway. And…luckily, thank goodness I love puzzles.

As you may remember, I have spent some time away from Kaua‘i learning from other Hawai‘i heads of school, visiting other schools, and engaging in meaningful conversations at both the state and national levels. Through it all, I kept a key question in mind:

Last year, Vince wrote this piece, an excellent one, on the situation regarding the relationship between tuition/fundraising and employee compensation/financial aid. Rather than spend my time re-writing it, I’ll let you review it and move into what I’ve been learning. But for the sake of conversation, here’s some updated information on Kaua‘i Cost of Living - Līhu‘e as a way to see the situation from another source, and here’s the most recent public information about tuition rates across our state for independent schools.

At Island School, we have great people trying to figure this all out. It’s an incredible puzzle. Over my first few months, I’ve been trying to understand the big picture. What are our values? How do we center students and who they are as learners? How do we care for (and fairly compensate) our employees? For me, these opening months…and the ones to come…are a chance for me to see clearly the picture on the puzzle box (to continue the metaphor). And at the same time, even when everything isn’t clear yet, we need to start putting together the pieces to get going at solving this puzzle. 

When I solve puzzles, I gather the edges together, the pieces that appear to be of the same colors, etc.  And so my days are filled with learning and gathering…why? Because now is the time that we have to put together the budget for next year, set tuition and fundraising goals, determine our financial aid line, and put the pieces in place to set our compensation and benefits for our employees, which equals over 70% of our operating expenses. Now that’s a puzzle!

I’m so glad you will soon be receiving our 2022-23 Annual Report, a beautiful document that focuses on all that we have to be proud of from last year. Our Director of Communications, Genevieve Foster ‘15 and the Development Team worked hard to bring you this important piece of communication regarding how we solved last year’s puzzle.

As I work hard with both the program and operations team along with the Board of Directors to put together the pieces for the 24-25 school year ahead, please know that we are prioritizing an excellent education for all of our students, which must include faculty and staff who can live and thrive here in Kaua‘i. 

We also know each of you work hard to build a meaningful life for your family here, and we are so grateful for your choice of Island School. Thank you for partnering with us as we continue to work on solving this puzzle together.

I do love this puzzle, and if you do too and want to talk about it or if you just want to know more, reach out, and let’s find time.

Together,

Nancy Nagramada,

Head of School