It was important for Principal Tonata Lolesio to reopen Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina only a few weeks after the Aug. 8 wildfire that decimated the town.
She saw it as a way for students and parishioners of the adjoining Maria Lanakila Catholic Church to help each other.
“It is healing for everybody,” Lolesio said. “For myself, even though I didn’t lose my home, I did lose my second home — my school. It was really important that we needed to return to our second home, or ohana, in Kapalua, and bring back that community that we built before the fire. We needed each other to help us get through hard times like this.”
The firestorm that swept through Lahaina killed at least 100 people and left hundreds homeless as the fire gutted more than 2,700 structures.
The survival of the historic church, built in 1846, was widely hailed as a miracle as it stood among the ruins, though half of the school on the northern wing of the parish had burned down. But Lolesio said it’s just as miraculous that the school managed to relocate so rapidly with makeshift classrooms to another church site in Kapalua.
“Just the generosity and the work that people have put in to making this possible — it’s a miracle what has happened out here. … We’re bringing some sense of hope to families and helping them and the kids,” she said.
The private school, now serving about 175 students from kindergarten through eighth grade, was temporarily reestablished Aug. 28 at the small Sacred Hearts Mission Church about a 15-minute drive away from Lahaina. Maria Lanakila parishioners, who total about 4,000, also attend Mass at the Kapalua church and Sunday services overflow onto the patios.
“We became one,” she said of the church and school, referring to the financial and spiritual support they’ve given each other.
The school year started Aug. 1 originally with 220 students, and included a preschool. There were 210 in attendance when it relocated a few weeks after the fire with half of the students from public schools that had been closed, though some have since left. Most of the faculty, about 17, have returned, grateful to have jobs to which they can return. Even their two janitors make an hourlong drive one way to work, including Sundays, Lolesio said.
“I’m just blessed with an amazing faculty. Given the circumstances, they have worked above and beyond to really uphold our academic excellence.”
Four 20-by-30-foot tents for classes have been set up on the property, and more classrooms are located on two patios on both sides of the church building. Administrative offices are shared with several church staff, and additional space has been made in spots like the choir loft.
The response from the community to requests for tuition assistance has been “astonishing,” Lolesio said. Tuition amounts to $8,400 to $8,900 a year. Of the 173 students, 83 lost everything — their homes and/or one or two parents lost their jobs. Families are struggling to make ends meet, as are some of the teachers.
She’s grateful curriculum companies gave them free books, shipping them about a week after the school reopened. Families who had old uniforms donated them, and the kids who didn’t have any wore similar blue shirts and solid colors to signify unification.
“It was important that we show the community we were serious about being a school … that Sacred Hearts School has reestablished out here.”
She praised the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, particularly Bishop Larry Silva, for making the rebuilding wof the school at the original site a priority and for holding weekly progress meetings to update her staff.
Currently, a diocesan task force is working on finding a larger facility in Kapalua or Kaanapali that will be able to serve the school over the next five years until the original Lahaina buildings are renovated and rebuilt. The move to the temporary facility, which will also provide space for Maria Lanakila services, is tentatively scheduled before the summer break. Everyone hopes the site will be fully renovated for the 2024-25 school year, she said.
What keeps Lolesio from being overwhelmed by unrelenting challenges?
“The kids are the ones that keep me going and keep me driven in what I’m doing,” she said. “When you wake up in the morning and come to school and see them smiling and laughing, and we sing and pray together … and they’re learning, and the teachers are teaching. The children are our hope for our healing and rebuilding out here, at least for our school community.”
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Get involved
>> If you would like to donate for tuition assistance, go to tinyurl.com/MauiSHSFund.
>> To watch a recent video of Sacred Hearts School children and faculty expressing gratitude, visit youtube.com/watch?v=apHTOsFjNec.
