Improving Education in Hawai‘i

Voyager is designed to be an incubator for systemic change throughout the education system of Hawai‘i. Voyager was created to introduce, test and demonstrate methods of learning that have proven to be effective in accelerating learning. Voyager School is the first school to combine these three methodologies in one program. By successfully demonstrating these approaches and methods with a diverse group of students, Voyager can free other schools in Hawaii to utilize them with confidence of success. Voyager aims to prove that high performance is possible; thereby raising the bar of what is possible and expected in the whole system. Resources utilized by Voyager thus will be used both to benefit its students and to return an even greater benefit to the community.

In 2002, the Voyager Foundation was established as the non-profit entity that provides support to Voyager School. The goal of the foundation is to assist Voyager School in its mission to “raise the bar of public education” in Hawai‘i.

Extensive and rigorous staff development is central to the success of Voyager. To the greatest extent possible and practical, Voyager offers opportunities for teachers from partner schools and other schools, charter and non-charter, to participate.

What is a Charter School?

Charter schools are privately managed, nonsectarian, public schools that are freed from many of the regulations applied to conventional schools. Charter schools enjoy increased autonomy in exchange for meeting contractually defined goals. The charter that establishes and governs each school is actually a performance contract describing the school’s mission, its programs, goals, the students served, and the methods used to measure success. Charter schools are accountable to their sponsor‚ usually a state or local school board‚ to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract. The school management is accountable for both academic results and fiscal practices to the school’s sponsor, the parents who choose them, and the general public.

How is Voyager Different?

Voyager offers a unique opportunity for any student to develop their abilities to:

• Embrace learning as a lifelong process
• Learn how to learn
• Be responsible for their own learning
• Understand what it means to be a human being and to work together with others
• Engage in complex thinking and problem solving
• Recognize and produce quality performance and results
• Become contributors to their community and to the world

Board of Directors

Our Board is made up of highly committed community leaders who are active in making sure the school has all it needs to function at the highest levels. Board members were instrumental in securing the new location.