New Hawaii Charter School Wants To Prep Kids For A Future Where AI Is ‘Central In Our Lives’

In an upstairs classroom at Kulia Academy, Andy Gokce gestures to an interactive whiteboard mounted on the wall.

“This is old technology,” the school’s interim executive director said of the device, which connects to a classroom computer and can respond to a student’s touch.

In the coming weeks, Gokce added, the near-empty room in a former Catholic school in Kalihi will turn into a technology lab equipped with 30 computers and new Apple Vision Pros, a virtual reality headset released earlier this year.

Kulia teachers will be asked to brainstorm weekly activities to immerse students in the world of virtual reality. Using the Vision Pros, Gokce said, students could study a three-dimensional version of a human heart or visit melting glaciers in Antarctica to observe the effects of climate change.

When Kulia Academy opens in August, it will be Hawaii’s newest charter school and the first to extensively focus on teaching artificial intelligence and data science to middle and high school students. The school’s opening comes as teachers across Hawaii are grappling with how to incorporate AI tools like ChatGPT into their classes, while also preventing students from using AI to replace their own work.     

Kulia Academy’s founders previously had trouble convincing state authorizers that their novel idea for a school could translate to student success.

The State Public Charter School Commission rejected Kulia’s application in 2018 and raised concerns about the school’s academic plan in 2022, questioning how the school would help students struggling in core subjects outside of science and technology.

But school leaders are confident they can find a balance between immersing students in AI and technology while also creating solid foundations in reading and math.  

“We won’t know until they open, but all the indicators are there for success,” said PJ Foehr, the charter commission’s deputy director. 

A Delayed Start

The Kalihi school has garnered the interest of families across Oahu, receiving nearly 250 applications for its first class of 100 students. School leaders selected the incoming class in a lottery earlier this month. 

While the school will only serve sixth-graders in August, it plans to add classes every year until it reaches its full capacity of 700 students in grades six to 12.

“A lot of people are like, ‘Is this school for real?’” Gokce said, adding that he’s had to explain to some parents that Kulia Academy is a tuition-free public school. 

The idea behind a technology-focused charter school emerged in 2016, said Karen Awana, vice president of the governing board that oversees Kulia Academy. While technology has rapidly evolved in the past several years, she added, the school’s goal was always to produce students with the skills needed to develop the technology of the future.

The school’s website details a six-year curriculum involving coding, programming and working with AI. In their junior and senior years, students will be able to take advanced courses in computer science for college credit. 

But Kulia Academy’s vision wasn’t always clear to the state charter commission, which is responsible for authorizing new charter schools and overseeing their performance.

In Kulia Academy’s first application in 2018, commission members said the school lacked details about its academic plan. For example, while school leaders said they anticipated serving a large number of minority students, evaluators said it was unclear how Kulia Academy would support students falling behind in classes.

The commission’s decision to reject the application was disappointing, Awana said, but she agreed that her team needed more time to develop a plan for the school and explain its unique focus on technology and AI. The school’s original mission statement did not mention technology and instead emphasized the importance of hands-on learning in science and the humanities. 

The second time the academy applied in 2022, the commission remained skeptical of the school’s ability to serve struggling students in core subjects. Some neighboring schools in Kalihi were already struggling with math and reading scores, and Kulia Academy needed to be prepared to serve students who were performing below grade level, the commission’s evaluation team said.  

“It is an interesting dilemma because the applicant proposes a rigorous, science-based curriculum but is not clear on how it would address students that either fall behind or enter already behind specifically in the core content subjects,” evaluators said in a written report.

But the commission ultimately voted to approve Kulia Academy’s application after school leaders presented their academic plans in more detail in a 2022 meeting. Kulia Academy’s extended school day, which runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., will allow students to receive more tutoring outside of class, Gokce said.

The school also plans on having weekly teacher meetings to discuss students’ progress in-depth, Gokce added, and the academy would like all students to attend summer school to strengthen their math and reading skills. 

Kulia Academy has received high levels of interest from Kalihi families, Gokce said, but it plans on enrolling students from across the island. While the school doesn’t give preference to students from any particular community or background, Gokce anticipates more Kalihi students will enroll in the coming years as word spreads in the community.

A Range Of Responses To AI

Kevin Peck, a parent of an incoming sixth-grader at Kulia Academy, said his daughter has completed basic robotics projects in the past and has some familiarity with AI. But he wants her to develop a better understanding of data analysis and technology so she can be prepared for high-paying jobs in the future.

Not all students and teachers have the same level of comfort with AI. Teachers at other Hawaii schools have said that introducing AI into their lessons is a daunting task when it’s already difficult to detect when students are using AI to cheat on assignments. Kulia Academy will likely allow students to use AI tools, like ChatGPT, in most classes and homework assignments but will prohibit it on exams, said artificial intelligence and data science teacher Lutfi Sun.

At Punahou School, high school English teacher Tom Gammarino said half of his students recently said they were skeptical of relying on AI for writing, even after he instructed them to use AI to produce short science fiction stories. Punahou only allows students to use AI on assignments with their teachers’ explicit permission. 

“Some students find it’s really fun and that they were able to produce something they totally are willing to sign off on,” Gammarino said. “Other students are like, ‘This is painful, I’d much rather write it myself.’”

Hawaii isn’t the only state grappling with how much students should rely on AI in the classroom. On the mainland, some high schools offer extensive career pathways in cybersecurity and coding, teaching students how to develop video games, websites and three-dimensional animations. Another school, based in Florida, conducts its classes through virtual reality. 

Denise Dugan, an assistant professor of education at Chaminade University, said it’s important for students to learn how to use new technology, while also building foundations in reading and critical thinking. Not all answers generated by AI are correct, she added, and students need to learn how to recognize and cite credible sources of information. 

Foehr of the charter commission said Kulia Academy will need to demonstrate academic success as well as its dedication to its technology-driven mission over the next five years. If the charter commission finds that Kulia Academy has fallen short of its expectations and goals, he added, the commission can close the school.

Gokce predicts that most schools will incorporate AI into their classes in the coming years through guest speakers or lecturers about the potential benefits and dangers of technology. What sets Kulia Academy apart is its focus on teaching students how to use technology and also design new AI tools for themselves, he added.

He hopes future graduates will apply their knowledge in all careers, from intellectual property law and business to software development and technology.

“We are not necessarily approaching AI through a danger mindset,” Gokce said. “We are approaching AI as something that’s going to be central in our lives.”

Peck said he’s confident in Kulia Academy’s ability to offer his daughter a good education in reading and math, as well as computer science and technology. But, he added, there’s always some uncertainty around new opportunities.   

“There’s always going to be a little bit of trepidation because it’s a new school,” he said. 

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.