LAHAINA – Maui Preparatory Academy was recently awarded a flexible operating grant of $50,000 from the Hawaii Community Foundation’s Robert E. Black Fund.

The HCF FLEX grant will allow Maui Prep to significantly expand its capacity to offer diverse and distinctive educational services to the local and international community, improving educational opportunities for students living in Maui County.

This funding supports three primary initiatives outlined in the schools 2012-17 Strategic Plan.

First, FLEX funding will be utilized to increase enrollment in the school’s International Boarding Program. This program will transform Maui Prep into a truly global enterprise.

The school’s boarding facility opened in the fall of 2014 and is expected to achieve full capacity within three years. By the 2018-19 school year, the academy’s population is expected to grow by at least 25 percent, and Maui Prep’s graduating class will double in size from current figures.

Funds from the Hawaii Community Foundation grant will also be used to develop and expand the Inter-Island Scholarship Program.

Maui Prep will develop funding sources for scholarships for students who demonstrate leadership potential in academics and a desire to make a positive impact in other areas of the school, including fine and performing arts, community service, athletics and student government.

These students will be recruited from Lanai and Molokai and will receive tuition aid to attend Maui Prep’s academic program and board in the international boarding facility.

Finally, Maui Prep will use this funding to explore the pedagogical direction of its new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) Initiative.

This strategy will pioneer the island’s first STEAM-inspired curriculum at the middle and high school level, establishing the academy at the forefront of what is a transformative educational movement.

“We are honored to accept this support and recognition from the Hawaii Community Foundation,” said Jonathan Silver, Maui Preparatory Academy Head of School.

“Maui Prep was a proud recipient of Hawaii Community Foundation support as one of Hawaii’s Schools of the Future, and very much appreciate the foundation’s continuing recognition of the important educational and community role Maui Prep plays in West Maui and beyond.”

For more information, or to schedule a campus tour, contact Cathi Minami, director of admissions, at 665-9966 or cminami@mauiprep.org, or visit www.mauiprep.org.