Mrs. Carola Souza, Principal

Born and raised on the island of Maui, I graduated from Maui High School, attended the University of Hawaii, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and finished my masters of Education at the University of San Francisco.

My teaching experiences included second, third, and fourth grade in private schools.  I served as Vice Principal for sixteen years and Principal for the last eight years at Star of the Sea Elementary School.  Having experienced teaching at different grade levels, I am able to empathize, advise, and assist teachers with the many challenges of being a teacher in a constantly changing world.

It is difficult to express in a few words why I enjoy Star of the Sea Elementary School, but one of the advantages is being able to share goals, traditions, and our faith in a community that acts as an extended family.  Respect for each person within the community is another advantage of working here.  Happiness comes to me through the hundreds of wonderful students who have touched my life and taught me how great it is to be a teacher.

Serving as principal through two WASC/WCEA accreditations, I have had the opportunity to observe significant academic growth.  During my tenure as principal, new programs that have been implemented are:

  • The position of Vice Principal was added.
  • Grades 4 and 5 were departmentalized.
  • The part-time ESL teacher was hired on a full time basis.
  • Problem Solving Experiences in Math - Grades 1 to 8 was implemented to foster the ability to think critically and solve problems independently.
  • Hawaiian and French languages were added to the middle school curriculum.
  • All classrooms were put on-line with a school-wide networking protocol.
  • A fully automated library system was added.
  • The Scott Foresman Reading 2000 program was adopted in grades 1 through 5.
  • Historical fiction literature was added into the middle school social studies curriculum.
  • The Accelerated Reading Program was added to the middle school language arts curriculum.
  • The seventh and eighth grade participate in the Challenger Space Science Program.
  • Aries, an astronomy based physical science program devised by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was incorporated into the middle school science curriculum.
  • The Aloha Medical Mission service project became an annual school-wide event.
  • The Parent Teacher Guild began sponsoring coffee gatherings for parents before and after the student body Masses on the first Friday of each month.