My daughter attended Kauai creative Academy for the year 2024-2025 in the sixth grade.

Her experience as well as ours has been nothing short of amazing. This was an excellent year for community building, cultural celebration, spiritual growth and education.

The curriculum was tailored seasonally as well as personally for the class. Parents have input in the curriculum as Miss Ilima invites and welcomes all parent involvement.

I love that astrology and mycology were studied, as well as traditional academia. My daughter’s interest peaked in math and spelling at the academy, which is a lovely tribute to the teachers.

Music and art are weaved into the curriculum and there were two special class performances, including hula. All hands on deck so the parents were brought closer together as a beautiful community. It was wonderful to see all the students shine during the winter performance.

My daughter is now confident performing and speaking in front of an audience, something she never did before this school year. This is a very important milestone, so I give big thanks to Miss Ilima.

Overall, to put it simply, all we ever wanted was to learn, love and grow. We experienced all three at the academy.

Jerri Shay

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As a parent, I am incredibly grateful for the nurturing, enriching environment that KCA has provided for my daughter, Rhea Green, who is 6 years old. Since joining the academy, Rhea has flourished academically, socially, and artistically in ways that have deeply impressed and uplifted our entire family.

Rhea has developed a genuine love for reading, writing, and math—subjects that can sometimes feel intimidating for young learners. The academic support at KCA is outstanding. Her reading and writing skills have improved remarkably in a short period of time, and she ap- proaches learning with motivation and independence. I am consistently amazed at how confidently she works on her projects and how excited she is to share what she’s learned.

One of the most refreshing aspects of KCA is the mixed-age classroom environment, with students ranging from 6 to 13 years old. This setup more accurately reflects real-world social dynamics and allows for peer learning and mentoring. Rhea benefits immensely from the diver- sity in ages, forming friendships and connections that help her grow emotionally and socially.

Equally important is the academy’s strong emphasis on the arts and connection to nature. Rhea has the opportunity to explore dance, aerial silk, musical instruments, and visual arts all in a supportive setting that encourages self-expression. She also participates in giving reports in front of her classmates and family members, which has noticeably boosted her confidence and public speaking abilities.

Nature-based learning and gardening are also key components of the curriculum. Children are taught to grow and prepare food, building essential life skills and a respectful, hands-on relationship with the Earth.

Additionally, KCA values the involvement of families. One of the beautiful ways this is expressed is through monthly field trips organized by rotating parents, which creates a strong sense of community. Miss Ilima, the school’s teacher and director, actively encourages parental involvement in planning important events like graduation, field trips, and celebration ceremo- nies. This inclusive approach allows every family to contribute meaningfully and take shared responsibility in shaping the children’s experience and path at school.

KCA is more than just a school—it is a vibrant, intentional community that nurtures the whole child. I wholeheartedly support its mission and am so thankful for the positive, holistic growth I see in Rhea every day.

Warmly,
Anita Green
Parent of Rhea Green {2024-25}

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Ilima Morris’s Kauai Creative Academy has been a dynamic learning expe- rience for my daughter and myself for the past three years.
My daughter’s passion and education in the movement arts has been deepened in the areas of dance, gymnastics, and aerial silks since at- tending KCA. She loves to perform in front of an audience, and has had many opportunities to do so at community wide events held by KCA . My daughter is also now choreographing and sharing her own dances with confidence and skill which is quite beautiful and inspiring to witness. Additionally, she has taken up Native American flute and started up a garden club where each student has their own garden plot to tend to at school. Garden club has given her the opportunity to practice her leadership skills, which has been a highlight for her.

At KCA academics and performing arts strike a nice balance . When my daughter began with the school, she wasn’t reading or writing and now she is fully literate. I love how Ilima weaves teaching self empowerment, self-worth, and an investigative outside of the box way of thinking into the children’s curriculum.

My daughter has grown intellectually, physically, spiritually, and has formed some really special bonds with some of the students and teacher mentors as well.
Overall, Kauai Creative Academy Has been a great learning environment for my daughter and I would love to see the school grow, prosper and con- tinue to provide alternative educational opportunities for a wide variety of Kauai families!

Sincerely Holly Brown {2024-25}

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I am very grateful for the two years my daughter has attended KCA. When public schools have not yet recognized childhood development and overall well-being, KCA has provided a very needed option for families. I love that dance and move- ment are a big part of the curriculum. My child has really blossomed in dance, and gained experience in performing and choreography. Academics are based
on individual abilities and each student learns at their own pace. Math and spell- ing are two areas where my child has greatly improved in. It’s a small group of children and its been a very sweet and charismatic time to be involved with all the families of the students. Miss Ilima’s efforts toward offering the students enrich- ing activities and amazing field trips really make this a special school. We have throughly enjoyed our time here and are ever so thankful to have been apart of this community.

In gratitude, Laura Ning Bao {2024-25}

 

Aloha,

I am writing in support of Kauai Creative Academy. My son has been a student there for the past four years, and it has been a wonderful, enriching experience for both him and our whole family. Ilima creates such a nurturing, safe, and heart centered environment for the children at the school, and I’ve also watched my son excel academically during his years there. I’m so grateful our small Kauai community has KCA, and strongly support the continuation of this school.

Sincerely, Brad and Diana Tayan Princeville, Kauai

 

Liliom was 4 years old when she started the Creative Academy. She was incredibly shy and had not spent anytime away from us, and didn’t want to start school. By the end of the first week she was so in love with Ilima Morris and enjoyed the activities so much that she would ask to go to school everyday. By the end of the program she was a confident young lady, performing for us at home all that she learned at school. She would sing, dance and show off her new gymnastics skills. She learned how to do cartwheels, back bend kick overs, started learning the basics on the aerial silks. She also excelled academically. We are a bilingual family and spoke mostly Hungarian at home, and when she started the program she was just beginning to learn how to communicate in English. By the end of the school year, she was interacting easily with other kids, as her language skills had improved dramatically. It was truly a joy to see her go through such a profound transformation in every way. This was only possible because of the safe, loving, nurturing, fun and exciting environment that Ilima created. We feel so blessed that Liliom had the opportunity to attend this incredibly dynamic program with one of the best teachers of all time.   -Reka & Joltz S.