Aloha Notes: My career as a School Psychologist in Hawaii

What do Honolulu School District school psychologists do over summer when classrooms are mostly empty and  students are enjoying their time at the beach?   May 2013 The last week of school at any school is always chaotic and for Kaiser High School, it was no different--seniors were getting ready to graduate, teachers were busy preparing and grading exams, and counselors and administrators were frantically wrapping up the school year. In the middle of the end of the year madness, the counselors and I got word that we all had to pack and move our offices....  (((Ah! Really?!)))  You really don't realize how much stuff you have in an office until you have to pack it all up and move. It really wasn't so bad though considering i was moving one building over. By mid June, I had packed my office and unpacked my files into their new home. Being a 12-month employee, I don't get summers off like my fellow school psychologists in California (iusd). Summers a...

Happy New Year Hawaii! I've been ready to wrap up 2011 and begin a new year, make some goals (that I'll likely keep until March) and look forward into the future. Sadly, the Honolulu District has lost co-workers who go home (mainland) for the holidays and don't come back to Hawaii. It's not only school employees who are getting island fever though... My little brother has also managed to throw in the towel on school, UH Manoa--leaving his car, a messy rented room, and a trail of panic behind him. (((SIGH))) So--Living in Hawaii isn't a piece of cake? Hardly. It's a lot of shifting. A lot of shifting that sometimes feels like we're going backwards... and when you are moving to Hawaii from the mainland--it's a difficult transition to make, one that not everyone is cut out for. Well future Hawaii resident s, there is an amazing website that you must check out. It has EVERYTHING!! where to live, how much stuff costs, how to get a job, what to do in your spa...

I had no idea what a complex school psychologist meant or how it would be different than my training in California...but it's really not as "complex" as you may think.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District:  The statewide school system is divided into seven administrative districts, including Oahu’s Honolulu, Central, Leeward and Windward districts; the Big Island’s Hawaii district; Maui District has Maui, Molokai and Lanai; and the Kauai district. Within each district, smaller areas are divided into 'complex' areas, based on the high schools and all the feeder schools .  Honolulu School District:  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Complex:  The complex I work in is called Kaiser Complex and is in the East side of Oahu. There are four elemen...