About Hongwanji Mission School

Hongwanji Mission School is a private coeducational school, Pre-school through Grade 8, located in the Nuuanu Valley, adjacent to downtown Honolulu.

At HMS, we strive to provide a safe environment which stresses a diverse academic curriculum with emphasis on moral and spiritual values. We recognize that each student is an individual worthy of personal attention. To this end we have kept class sizes small, with maximum student-teacher ratio of 18:1. This allows our teachers an opportunity to provide as much guidance and instruction as possible.

Recognizing that we live in a world of global interdependence, students from Kindergarten through Grade 8 study Japanese as a foreign language.

Of note are the facilities on campus which include a gymnasium, swimming pool, library, and computer center. An extensive after school program, holiday day care, and summer school program are some of the additional programs we offer to our students.

Our commitment is to the parents and their children whose development and futures they have entrusted to our care. To this end, we have committed this institution to providing the highest standard of academic excellence we can offer.

Programs . Hongwanji Mission School programs are set to high learning standards and provide broad and challenging learning experiences. The aim is to make every HMS student an able, willing, and responsible learner, and every eighth-grade graduate capable of enrolling – and excelling – in any private or public high school. Teaching is organized and carried out in classes that are small, highly personalized, and safe.

• At HMS, every student has a common core of learning experiences which includes reading, writing, speaking, high-level thinking and problem-solving skills; mathematics, science, and social studies; computer skills; the arts; and physical education. This core offering is enriched with foreign language, interscholastic athletics, accelerated academic programs, and student seminars and conferences on issues of local, national, and global significance. Global understanding and cross-cultural contacts, in turn, are strengthened with visits abroad and exchanges over the Internet and web sites. Partnerships with museums, schools, and other nearby educational institutions offer students a range of experiences for meeting, interacting with, and learning from people in the community.

Community Service. Community service makes our students more conscious of what it is to be truly human as they grow toward adulthood. It embraces projects and various appeals for help from community-based institutions, including the school itself. Having our students provide this service perpetuates the Buddhist belief that students must continually learn and grow toward attaining wisdom, compassion, and an appreciation of the oneness of all life. The school is not truly Buddhist unless it mirrors this belief in the overall education of students.

• Community service that our students participate in extends across a broad spectrum of local needs such as cleaning the school and temple grounds, providing typing and clerical services to the school, cleaning beaches and streams, serving as companions to the elderly and ill, and collecting food for the hungry. At the same time it fulfills national appeals coming from recognized organizations such as the American Heart Association, the Salvation Army, and Easter Seals. In providing this service, students learn to give and share, understand and appreciate, transform and heal.

The Way We Do Things Around Here
Hongwanji Mission School

As a team, we are service leaders and will show:

• A sense of humor
• An open mind
• Respect for each other
• Enthusiasm
• Dependability
• Confidentiality
• Responsibility
• Cooperation
• Compassion

We are committed to:

• Being organized
• Being focused on shared goals
• Communicating openly and effectively
• Being supportive of each other
• Participating in training
• Learning from our mistakes
• Being equal contributors
• Encouraging others

Following through with tasks