Ups and Downs

 This is a long one today, but with some important news.  To offset the 'wall of text' we've put a few extra pictures in.

Mahalo nui loa from Thren and I!

From a newsletter we sent out today:

From Threnody

Hi all! Firstly and most importantly I would like to thank those who have helped us to get this far. With such a short amount of time and money left to go, La Pietra is turning from a dream into reality.
Why La Pietra is the school for ME
    I know you’ve all heard plenty from my mom on why La Pietra is an excellent choice, however I thought you might be interested in why I LOVE it. La Pietra is a small school, which is great; I love knowing my teachers and being on a first name basis with all my classmates, it also helps for college applications since the teachers can write much better “personal” recommendations. Despite being small it still offers a huge variety of classes (including AP and online classes).
    The teachers are experts in their fields : how often can you say your physics teacher in high school was a doctor? ...Lastly I would like to point out how many outside opportunities I would get from La Pietra: they have so many connections with volunteer organizations and for our junior projects they help us find a mentorship in a field we are interested in. This allows us to give back and decide if it’s a field we are definitely interested in as a career!
Thank you again!  I hope you enjoyed our newsletter, you’ll be hearing more soon.

Shave Ice rainbows make everything better!

I thought we'd start this post with a few words from Thren herself.  And now, some good news:

We raised over 14,800 between donations and financial aid!  We have signed the initial deposit and registration paperwork; Thren will get her list of books to order for her classes soon!
(That amount also includes parental contributions.)

She's already received her schedule - and is *very* excited about her classes.

Who knew math, two languages, 3 science classes (and more) would be so exciting?

I am still trying to figure out how to cover the last small gap of $2210 this month - we'll get there somehow.  Please feel free to email us if you have any ideas to share.

I know it's not completely covered - I think I have a new swatch of silver in my hair to prove that.  But it's an amazing opportunity, and we are so close, I know we can cover this last part somehow.

Also, if you've pledged some money, but haven't sent it in yet - now is the time.  You can use the yellow button to the right, or just send us an email to work out another method. Thanks again!

Why La Pietra?  Why not another public school or homeschooling?

From the ChipIn blog:

When we first moved here, we had heard great things about the high school she is currently in from both long-time residents and fairly recent graduates. However,
Threnody has had a difficult time there, and she’s fallen a bit behind in a few key areas.
(She won’t be returning there next year.)
What has been most disheartening to me is her frustration and despair with attending school - it has really diminished that spark, that love of learning she used to show daily. We decided to begin exploring other options, and after numerous applications, interviews, tours, shadow days, financial aid applications, etc - we finally found the best fit for her overall: La Pietra Hawai’i School for Girls.

Hawai'i public schools are in a different category entirely than what we've been used to!  If you'd like some basic information on them, I recommend this series of short articles, especially the second one: "Education Reform Must Put Kids First".

 I have to thank some of our family in New Orleans for helping me see how unhappy T was with her current school; none of this would have happened as quickly as it has without your help!
Reviewing our options, transferring to a new public school is out, unfortunately.  Community college/homeschooling is also out for next year - there isn't enough breadth that she could take and fully withdraw from her current school.  It would also make her transcript even more more of a 'mishmash' than it already is.

At LP, she can take classes at the highest levels, and boost areas that she needs some extra polishing in.  They are also phenomenal at getting aid and scholarships for their students - so this will help her in the longer run with her college financing.  In short, she will be able to really explore, have her transcript cleaned up and organized, and have the best introduction possible to various admissions and financial aid staff.  *Over 100 fly to La Pietra each year and visit the students on their campus*.

I hope this helps clarify a bit about why we're doing our best to make this happen for her.  Again, many thanks for all that you've done - we really appreciate it.  If you have any ideas use the email link above, or the other buttons and links to the right.

I'll close again with a little bit from Thren:

Maybe I could work with Dolphins for my mentorship?

 

Please let us know if you didn't get the newsletter/update and would like to!  Eventually we'll close the blog later this fall, and update by email.