Hanahau'oli School today will receive a $1 million gift from the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation to support its new Professional Development Center, which will share the school's approach to education with student teachers, school administrators and established educators.

Known for its integrative, multi-age teaching methods, Hanahau'oli has been providing teacher training and professional development for years. But the grant from the Ching Foundation will allow the school to create a formal program so that it can share its methods with more people.

Trustees of the foundation will present school officials with a ceremonial check at the small Makiki campus this morning.

"When (school administrators) explained to us that what they wanted to do was to take the Hanahau'oli model and share it with other educators in the state ... we thought it was just wonderful," said trustee Kenneth Okamoto.

"If they are successful in getting their model out to many teachers — not limited to private schools, but also public schools — that would be wonderful. Exponentially, so many more students will be able to benefit from this," Okamoto said.

Hanahau'oli School head Robert Peters said the new Professional Development Program will be housed in the school's recently built administration building. It will serve as a site for practical training for teachers as well as a way to promote research into teaching practices and production of teaching material, he said.

Mostly, it will serve to help educators understand Hanahau'oli's approach to teaching young children.

Hanahau'oli, which serves students from junior kindergarten to sixth grade, uses an approach to education not typical of the traditional classroom environment.

Kindergarten and first-grade students are put together in one large class taught by three different teachers.

The same approach is used for second- and third-grade students and then fourth- and fifth-grade students.

Only junior kindegarten and sixth-grade are kept as traditional grade levels.

Peters said the approach allows the three teachers in the classroom to play off each other's strengths. In a multi-age class, teachers respond to the needs of individual students rather than lumping them together under labels of grade levels or age.

"Where else but school do you get sorted by age?" Peters said.

If a child is ready to move on to a new concept, teachers will introduce it. But it's done in a way that doesn't leave other students behind.

Maile Ostrem teaches a multi-age class of students who would typically be considered either second- or third-graders. She's been working with student teachers since 1985, helping them understand how to use this model of education.

"Our student teachers are always coming up to me and asking, 'Is this a second- or third-grader?' " she said. "They are trying to figure out developmental theories. But sometimes we can't tell. We just think of them as learners."

While multi-age environments are a key element in Hanahau'oli's model of education, Peters said experiential learning is another way his school tries to reach children.

"Our philosophy is that children learn best when they are actively engaged in their learning. We take the bits and pieces and relate it to the world in which they live, so that they can understand how it applies," Peters said.

For instance, half of Ostrem's class visited Coconut Island on Friday to experience the island's geographic features, plant life and living organisms in the water. The students then returned to class and applied their lessons to their reading, writing, science and math.

"Now they're going to be reading and writing about something that has significance because they just experienced it," Ostrem said.

Erin Magee, a student teacher from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, said she feels that she's receiving unique training compared to other students her age in traditional schools.

"There are some in public schools and private and also charter schools. ... We'll sit around in a circle and discuss. I usually have much more unique experiences being here," she said.

Magee said she realizes that when she begins her teaching career, she may not be in the same type of environment as Hanahau'oli. But she said she hopes to integrate some of the skills she learns into her classroom.