Imua Inclusion Preschool student Charlotte Barnhart (age five) enjoys the outdoors while exploring a monkey pod tree during a visit to Imua Discovery Garden in Wailuku.

LAHAINA — Imua Family Services recently announced the formation of a brand new partnership with the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) and the Executive Office on Early Learning (EOEL) to bring Imua’s brand of inclusion preschool education to Princess Nahienaena Elementary School in Lahaina.

The partnership will focus on providing high-quality early learning and education and pairing it within an inclusive learning environment for children of preschool age.

The tuition-based preschools will be managed by Imua Family Services, with an allotment of placements designated to the DOE.

As with Imua’s current inclusion preschool location, tuition assistance may be available to those who qualify through a variety of sources, such as Pauahi Keiki Scholars, Child Care Connection Hawaii and Preschool Open Doors.

According to Imua, high-quality preschool education helps prepare children for success in kindergarten, impacting not just their immediate future but their entire academic career.

The inclusion model, which Imua Inclusion Preschool has been demonstrating for the past six years, brings all types of learners together in the same classroom environment.

Together, children are able to learn compassion, understanding and helpfulness through assisting one another, and they are able to learn first-hand the many ways each individual contributes and participates in their daily activities.

The partnership inclusion preschool will be located at Princess Nahienaena Elementary School within the Hana-Lahainaluna-Lanai-Molokai Complex Area.

With a decades-long history of providing therapeutic services to young children across all of Maui County, Imua Family Services is happy to now also offer its brand of early childhood education to the West Maui community.

Imua Family Services’ history with preschool education started with a different partnership — a 2014 inclusion preschool pilot program conducted with the University of Hawaii Maui College Early Education Program.

Imua’s dream for inclusion education — a classroom where children with special needs would learn alongside typically developing peers — then morphed into the Imua Inclusion Preschool, which opened within and at the same time as the agency’s Early Childhood Development Center in Kahului.

For six years, Imua Inclusion Preschool has provided preschool services to children living with a wide variety of special needs and special learning needs, including behavioral disorders, critical health and disability issues, and speech/hearing issues, to name a few.

Imua Inclusion Preschools are under the oversight of Imua Family Services’ Director of Clinical Services, Dr. Bobbi-Jo Moniz-Tadeo, and Director of Educational Services, Dr. Lori de Crinis, as well as the agency’s Executive Director, Dean Wong.

The team is excited to partner with the Princess Nahienaena Elementary School’s team and Principal Gary Kanamori. It’s a school that values family engagement and community.

Student applications are now being accepted for Imua Inclusion Preschool programs. Teacher and teacher assistant applications are also being accepted for the West Maui preschool. For further information, instructions on how to apply, and to obtain a copy of the application, visit https://imuafamily.org or call (808) 244-7467.

Limited spaces are available, and early application is encouraged.