When a new nonprofit group, Parents for Public Schools Hawai‘i, asked middle schools in town to offer tours for parents weighing where to send their children, some observers wondered whether anyone would come.

"Some of them thought that people wouldn’t be interested," said the group’s president, Lois Yamauchi. "They said, ‘What if nobody signs up?’"

The opposite has happened. Kaimuki Middle School originally planned a tour for 20 parents on Wednesday, but demand was so strong it boosted the number to 65 — and 23 more are on a waiting list maintained by Parents for Public Schools.

"We’ve had an overwhelming response," Yamauchi said. "I knew people would be interested; I didn’t think this many people would be interested."

The point of the tours is to help break through misconceptions and encourage parents to check out public middle schools firsthand rather than assume that their children would be better off in private school, she said. Traditionally, public middle schools invite students at nearby elementary schools to visit before they move up, but don’t reach out to parents until their children are already enrolled.

"I think that many people are afraid of the middle school years in general," Yamauchi said. "I think it’s a time of anxiety for a lot of parents. … There are excellent schools with excellent programs, and people don’t know about them."

Two other scheduled tours, at Kawananakoa and Stevenson middle schools, are fully booked and have waiting lists. Jarrett Middle is planning to schedule a second tour in January, and a fifth school, Washington Middle, just decided on Jan. 31 for its tour.

The rate of private school enrollment in Hawaii rises as a child ages. During the elementary years, 14 percent of students choose private school. That number jumps to 19 percent in secondary school. Altogether, 17 percent of Hawaii students are attending private schools this fall, well above the national average of 11 percent, according to data from the state Department of Education, the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools and the federal government.

Parents for Public Schools Hawai‘i was formed to build support for Hawaii’s public schools after the battle against Furlough Fridays, which shut down campuses for 17 days in the 2009-10 school year. In July it became an official chapter of the national Parents for Public Schools organization.

"One of the good things that came out of a dark time in public education in Hawaii is that people really began to focus on education," Yamauchi said. "With the Furlough Fridays … the parents didn’t hear about them until after that decision was made. So we feel that it’s important that all parents have a voice."

The middle school tours are part of the group’s mission to promote and improve public education. The parents group started with the Hono­lulu district because that area has the highest percentage of children in private education, and it will consider expanding to other parts of the island next school year, she said.

Tours are being held on school days to give parents a real taste of campus life. The format varies by school, but parents will learn about the academic program and activities at the school, hear from current students and staff, tour the campus and possibly visit classes, depending on the number in the tour.

Nicole Okamura, whose daughter attended Manoa Elementary, chose Jarrett Middle for sixth grade this year even though they don’t live in Palolo because she was touched by the caring atmosphere at the school, which has just 250 students.

"Since my daughter started going to Jarrett, she has been thriving in so many different ways," Okamura said. "Academically she is doing the best she’s ever done. She’s becoming a self-driven student, and that’s the hope I think all of us parents want for our kids. I’m seeing her grow and become more responsible. She even thinks of how can she contribute to the household."

Okamura encourages parents to take a tour.

"It would definitely break any misconceptions that people have about Jarrett," she said. "It would help to open minds."

At one point Okamura had thought about the possibility of private school as her daughter got older, but because she is so pleased with Jarrett, "private school is not even on the radar anymore."

Principal Eleanor Gonsalves said that along with its intimate atmosphere, Jarrett has a challenging curriculum, including the AVID program, which helps get students on track for college and careers. It also offers a free after-school program that includes help from teachers with schoolwork and classes in cooking, ukulele, dance, forensics, tennis and more.

Kaimuki Middle School’s principal, Frank Fernandes, said he and his staff are "excited and energized" by the number of people who want to visit. In the move to middle school, parents are often concerned about safety and whether their child will be challenged academically and cared for as an individual.

"The transition from elementary to middle school can be a bit of a fracture point if it’s not done well," Fernandes said. "We try to combine the rigor that most parents want with the level of nurturance that engages kids. It’s a standing precept of middle-level education that attending to their physical, social and emotional needs promotes academic success."

Yamauchi, the Parents for Public Schools Hawai‘i president, said she chose public school for her two children, who are in fifth and eighth grades, because it allows them to meet and work with such a diverse group of people. "I feel that my children would have less opportunity to learn and grow in a very broad way if they went to a private school," she said.