The opening of DreamHouse ʻEwa Beach’s high school campus last November marked a significant milestone for the six-year-old charter school, which was teaching freshman students in a renovated fitness studio not long ago.
The $26 million building included two floors of open learning spaces to encourage student collaboration and provide teachers the flexibility to hold school-wide meetings. The permanent campus gave high-schoolers a new sense of ownership, said Interim Head of School Katrina Abes, and allowed teachers to personalize their classrooms with posters and decorations for the first time.
But just as the school was opening for celebratory public tours, DreamHouse’s governing board came to a startling realization: the school wasn’t on track to pay off the new building, which it had financed through municipal bonds. Student enrollment was falling short of projections, meaning the school was receiving fewer state funds than anticipated.
“We recognized at that point the school had no plan,” said Richard Seder, vice chair of DreamHouse’s governing board. “It was at that point that the board in unison stepped forward and said, ‘We need to save the school.’”…