2024 Jarrett Middle School Foundation Dinner

DATE & TIME: Saturday, November 23rd, 5:00 pm

PLACE: Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi, 2454 South Beretania Street

Generations Ballroom, 5th Floor

TICKETS:

• Platinum Table (10 seats) = $2,500

(Parking Validation, Swag, Large Sponsor Logo Promotion, and more included for table)

• Gold Table (10 seats) = $2,000

(Parking Validation, Swag, Medium Sponsor Logo Promotion, and more included for table)

• Silver Table (10 seats) = $1,200

(Parking Validation, Swag, Small Sponsor Logo Promotion, and more included for table)

• Faculty/Staff (1 seat) = $45

• General Admission Early Bird(1 seat) = $85

• General Admission (1 seat) = $95

RSVP: By Wednesday, November 13

PARKING: Self-parking in the Japanese Cultural Center

Dear Jarrett Middle School ‘Ohana and Friends,

We are thrilled to announce that the Jarrett Middle School Foundation will host our annual in-person dinner event again. This year, we have the honor of recognizing two exceptional former JMS students: Keith Hayashi, currently the DOE Superintendent, and Dr. Elliot J. Kalauawa, a distinguished figure at Waikiki Health. Their achievements are a source of pride and inspiration for our Palolo community.

Let’s make this event truly memorable!

Join us for a fantastic evening as we celebrate their achievements and contributions to our community. Enjoy performances by Jarrett students, listen to live music, bid on silent auction items, try your luck in the raffle, and reconnect with former classmates, coworkers, family members, and friends.

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

Aloha Piha – The Jarrett Foundation Board

Conventional wisdom would say that Jarrett Middle School should not be doing as well as it is.

The Palolo Valley school in O‘ahu has a significant “high needs” student population. More than 72 percent of its children qualify for the Free and Reduced Price Lunch program. Jarrett Middle School also educates a higher-than-average number of special needs students (14.5 percent vs. the state’s 11.2 percent) and nearly double the state’s average of English Learners, at 11.5 percent.

Consequently, many of Jarrett’s students are starting school less ready for it than their peers across the state and have to work harder to catch up. “These kids have farther to go. That’s why they can’t afford to be ordinary,” said Principal Reid Kuba.

Not only have Jarrett’s students caught up, but they are 15 points ahead of the state’s middle schools in science and are on par with middle schools in English language arts/literacy (ELA) and math.

“We needed to focus on doing things better than ‘normal.’ So we challenge them, and this expectation is communicated to parents and the surrounding community,” noted Dr. Kuba.

Educators intuitively grasp the extra work required of high-needs students to match their peers. But it’s more important to make sure that the kids get it. So when the school year starts, they do a “pretend race” in a schoolwide assembly.

Dr. Kuba explains: “Some students start at the starting line, and then we move a random group of kids further back. And they protest, like, ‘Hey, what’s going on, that’s not fair, why are we back here?’ But because we have kids from families that struggle, lots of them didn’t go to preschool, don’t have learning supports at home — a host of challenges. So they have farther to travel in the race, and they’re still expected to finish with these other kids who have advantages.”

The message is that life is not fair, but students must choose to do something about it. They are given three options:

1) Give up, quit, and fall farther behind.

2) Be an ordinary middle school student and still end up behind or

3) Be an extraordinary student and win the race.

“Ultimately, students choose to be extraordinary, and it is expected of them,” Dr. Kuba said.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi, 2454 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, United States