Maryknoll School | Kindergarten

Kindergarten: Curiosity and Discovery

Children develop and learn through spontaneous, self-directed activities, combined with the introduction of a more structured learning environment. Students cultivate a natural desire to learn, develop social skills and ethical responsibility, and understand and demonstrate basic concepts.

A love for learning starts young.

Maryknoll School is renowned for its excellent early education program in Kindergarten, which lays a solid foundation in reading, writing, math, and science. Our caring faculty and staff get to know every student at Maryknoll and help to nurture their unique interests, passions, and talents as early as Kindergarten.

Lessons in Phonics Plus build verbal skills and make reading fun to cultivate students’ enjoyment of storytelling and ease of communication. Students learn about God, Jesus, and Mother Mary through word and song. Science and math start with showing students the wonder of the world around them, and inviting them to explore, question, and discover. Self-directed activities combined with the introduction of a more structured learning environment teach students social skills and responsibility as they adjust to the grade school environment.

For the 2024–2025 school year, parents of students who will attend Kindergarten will continue to have the option of participating in our Mandarin Immersion Program, the first Mandarin language immersion program in Hawaii, during the regular school day. Mandarin Immersion students receive daily instruction in a 50/50 model, 50% of each day in Mandarin and 50% in English.

Other curricular highlights include participation in a Big & Little Brothers & Sisters program, where Kindergarten and sixth-grade students partner for combined activities throughout the school year; introduction to Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a STEM-based curriculum in which Maryknoll won the “Distinguished Award” for its K-5 Launch program in 2020; beginning classes in art, music, and physical education.