Assets School was originally established in 1955 to serve military families looking for a school that focused on specialized education. In 1969, under the guidance of Max Templeman, Assets began its endeavor to educate the students of Hawaii as a private school on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base for just 24 students, kindergarten to 6th grade. The school’s purpose was later defined to provide remedial services for the dyslexic student and accelerated instruction for the gifted student under the guidance of Barrett McCandless in the 1970s. To meet the needs of the community, Assets expanded its program to include a 7th and 8th grade class in 1978 and a high school a little over a decade later.
Originally housed in 13 classrooms, Assets outgrew its campus and moved from Pearl Harbor Naval Base to its current location near the Honolulu International Airport in 1992. Today, Assets School has two campuses, one near the airport and one at the site of former Academy of the Pacific (AOP), thanks to a merger agreement that was finalized in 2014. Assets is the surviving entity of the merger and will uphold the AOP legacy by continuing to provide educational opportunities and services to Hawaii students in need of a non-traditional educational environment. Both AOP and Assets have a long history of serving students who have not been well served in other school settings, through alternative, individual approaches to education. Assets School reaches out to provide unique educational services to more than 350 gifted, dyslexic and gifted-dyslexic students in Hawaii.
Always evolving and adapting to the changing needs of the community, Assets began a new undertaking. In 1999, Assets Teacher Training and Outreach Program was established to ensure that thousands of children, not just Assets School students, benefited from better-informed teachers, parents and other professionals. A true success, Assets Outreach Program has serviced individuals locally, nationally and internationally.
A leader in education, Assets has garnered a reputation of innovative teaching practices and proven student success. Educators from schools around the world visit Assets to study our teaching methods in order to better serve their students.
Assets School provides students with the knowledge, skills and capabilities to live rich and meaningful lives, advance in their chosen career and improve the communities in which they live and work. Assets strives to make a difference in education by providing learning that transforms lives.