UPDATED Sept. 27, 2013 9:30 a.m.*

Kaneohe’s Waiahole Elementary School was founded in 1883, when Hawaii was still a kingdom ruled by King David Kalakaua. 

Now, 130 years later, that legacy is still alive and well. Nearly three-fourths of the Waiahole Elementary’s students are Native Hawaiian, and the school has remained open despite continuous efforts to urbanize the neighborhood and shut it down. Well-known alumni include Zoey Anguay of Broadway’s Miss Saigon, former Senator and School Superintendent Charles Toguchi and Olomana’s Jerry Santos. 

The school is having a birthday party this Saturday, Sept. 28, complete with a luau, entertainment, a raffle grand prize, country market and more. The free event lasts from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will feature a surprise guest. 

Waiahole Elementary is, as a memo notes, “a small school with a big history … Our valley community feels proud that our school is still standing.”

Photo: Kaneohe Bay and Waiahole. (Courtesy of ewen and donabel via Flickr.)

* A spokeswoman for the school said she was wrong in classifying Waiahole Elementary as the state’s oldest elementary in the state. It is, however, the oldest elementary in the Windward district.

— Alia Wong