The $78 million school built in 95 days by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractors is set to welcome about 350 students when classes start next Monday. The school is designed for 600 pre-K to 5th grade students, about the number who were enrolled when the original Kamehameha III burned.

“This is truly a tremendous day, the day we open Kamehameha III School,” said state Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi. “In the Department, we talk about and embrace the idea of ne’epapa, which means to come together as one, united in purpose, and moving forward together in unison. Being here today and dedicating this new campus for King Kamehameha III is a prime example of that. I look forward to Principal (Ian) Haskins and our students and staff being able to fill this space with aloha and a love for learning for many years to come.”

Kamehameha III staffers who joined dignitaries at the blessing said it has been a school year like none other. For some, this is their fourth campus in eight months.

“It’s bittersweet,” said school technology coordinator Sandee Rivas following Monday’s ceremony. “It’s been one of the toughest years of teaching in my 23 years.”

The 10.2-acre hillside campus enjoys commanding views of the ocean and neighboring islands. This photo was taken earlier this month.

Rivas said after the fire destroyed the school on Front Street in downtown Lahaina, she was first assigned to another school before coming back to the West Side to teach Kamehameha III fifth graders at a shared campus at Princess Nahienaena Elementary School. In the midst of another move, this one during their spring break, staffers said there is hope that students will come to think of the hillside campus with beautiful views as their new educational home.

“The families are excited for the kids to have a place to go, a place to call home,” said Vice Principal Charlotte Patao. “The teachers are excited to get into their new space.”

Patao said the school has received donations from around the world, including a play structure soon to arrive from Europe.

“Everyone is coming together,” she said.

Student Services Coordinator Renee Vachow said the new location will take some getting used to.

Kamehameha III Elementary School is reduced to ash and ruins in this photo taken Aug. 10, 2023, two days after the windblown wildfire that decimated Lahaina.

“It’s different,” Vachow said. “It’s a big change for us.”

School Principal Ian Haskins said it has been a team effort.

“We have stuck together and I do truly appreciate that,” Haskins said. “We have persevered by working together. This has been an unprecedented year.”

The temporary campus is intended to serve five years while a new school is built. It includes 30 classrooms, including 20 with a sink and 10 with a bathroom. There are also three standalone bathrooms and five administrative buildings. All are constructed out of leased 8-by-20-foot modular steel units that are about the size of shipping containers and can be ganged together to create different-sized buildings. There is also a covered outdoor space, a basketball court and two playgrounds. Some classrooms will be used as resource rooms for art, computer lab, special education, and for Kaiapuni Hawaiian language immersion education.

Pono Aina Management was the general contractor and the main subcontractor was Goodfellows Brothers. The campus is located on a portion of land scheduled to be part of the Pulelehua mixed-use project. It enjoys commanding views of the ocean, coastline and neighboring islands. The modular building units are scheduled to be returned to the Mainland when the DOE is done using them.

School Principal Ian Haskins shakes hands with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green Monday.

“It is a small miracle that in just 95 days a school has been created,” said Hawaii Gov. Josh Green. “We need some small miracles here after the fire that we suffered. This is the place where most kids are going to find their normal moments, their stable moments.”

Green said stability for students is a “critical part of healing.”

Army Corps Recovery Field Office Commander Col. Eric Swenson, said it was a race to the finish to get the campus completed on schedule. He said the project may have taken 95 days, but losing 10 days to rainy conditions meant it was actually accomplished in 85 working days.

“We got this work done because the hands behind the tools were vested in the community and committed to delivering for their families, their neighbors, their neighborhoods and their community,” Swenson said.

During his remarks, Swenson said debris removal in Lahaina is in high gear, with 25 percent of the town’s debris already transported to the temporary storage site in Olowalu.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green drives against Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistant External Affairs Officer Mike Peacock during a quick game on the school’s basketball court Monday. Green teamed with U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa to take on Peacock and Diversity Resources Group LLC owner Wayne Lawrence in a spirited game that appeared to end in a scoreless tie.

Also attending Monday’s ceremony were U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, Board of Education Chairman Warren Haruki and state Rep. Justin Woodson, who represents Central Maui and is also chairperson of the House Committee on Education. U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California, whose district includes Paradise, where the Camp Fire took place in 2018, attended as a guest of Congresswoman Tokuda.

Tokuda said she recently toured the recovering town of Paradise with LaMalfa and what she saw there gave her hope for Lahaina.

“We will be back,” Tokuda said.

Staff writer Matthew Thayer can be reached at mthayer@mauinews.com.

Kamehameha Elementary School at Pulelehua Principal Ian Haskins gives a tour of the temporary campus Monday.