Kalaheo High School is the newest public school in Hawaii to launch a national program aimed at boosting the academic performance of kids from military families. 

The National Math and Science Initiative strives to ensure military dependents have access to high-quality, consistent math and science education even if they move around a lot. The initiative has concentrated its efforts in the Advanced Placement program because course expectations are standard across the country, according to a Hawaii Department of Education press release. 

Kalaheo High received a $112,000 check from the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity today to both expand its AP course offerings and give incentive rewards to students who get scores of three or higher on select exams. 

Kalaheo joins four other local high schools — Campbell, Leilehua, Mililani and Radford — that have already set up National Math and Science Initiative AP programs through support from ExxonMobil, DoDEA and the Office of Naval Research. 

Together, the four schools experienced a 65 percent increase in the number of students who took math, science or English AP exams in the 2012-13 school year compared with the 2010-11 school year. Those students combined for an 89 percent increase in scores of three or higher, qualifying many of them for college credit. 

But the national program is restricted to schools on or near U.S. military bases that serve large populations of federally connected students, meaning that many struggling schools might never have access to the AP booster resources. Still, all students — military dependents or not — at select schools can participate. 

Civil Beat reported on the pros and cons of the National Math and Science Initiative back in October 2012, when a spokeswoman said the initiative is actively looking to expand its services to other schools, too. 

Photo: Students taking a test. (Courtesy of Fotolia.)

— Alia Wong