Lia Woo has been selected to head Hanahau‘oli School, the first graduate of the exclusive private school to serve in that position.

Woo returned to Hanahau‘oli as a teacher in 2012 and worked as its first director of curriculum and innovative technology until 2016. She has been serving since June as interim head of school.

Founded 100 years ago by missionary descendant Sophie Judd Cooke, the school serves 211 students in junior kindergarten through sixth grade at its Makiki campus. They are grouped in multi-age classrooms with a philosophy of “learning by doing.”

Woo, a Boston College graduate, earned a master’s in learning, design and technology from Stanford University in 2002, and a master’s in private school leadership from the University of Hawaii in 2016.

She first attended Hanahou‘oli in 1980 as a junior kindergartner.