Hawaii Association of Independent Schools

3 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 consisting of perpetuating school renewals through licensing and accreditation, delivering on professional development opportunities, and assisting parents in learning about independent education as a whole, HAIS exists to encourage high educational standards, as well as to preserve the independence of Hawaii’s private schools. HAIS was officially founded in 1969 following a series of meetings involving Dr. Roderick F. McPhee of the Punahou School, Dr. James Bushong of the Kamehameha School, Reverend David Coon of the Iolani School, and Joseph Pynchon of the Hawaii School for Girls. “The story goes that back in the days when we circulated 16mm films instead of streaming them on the Internet, one of our heads of school received a film canister that they were going to use for their instruction,” shares Executive Director Phil Bossert. “The label on it was slightly peeled off, so he could look under it and see that the film had been at another school on the island the week before. That meant that the film had been shipped back to California before it had arrived to him, which meant pretty hefty postage costs had been incurred. So he said, ‘This is crazy,’ and he invited about 15 other heads of schools to lunch where he told them, ‘We’re competitors, but let’s informally agree to cooperate on things like inviting speakers and circulating resources.’ And the group accepted to share information and identify practical ways to AT A GLANCE HAWAII ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS WHAT: A member-based organization advocating on behalf of private schools in Hawaii WHERE: Based in Honolulu, Hawaii WEBSITE: www.hais.us