St Joseph School

Curriculum is horrible, teachers and staff are quite stingy and incompetant. They are arrogant, calling themselves «the best.»

Here for one of my dearest mommies! Florence Basug! She is the best school Secretary ever and she is retiring! St. Joseph will never be the same without her! She wore many hats and for every one she wore she did it with her heart! I love her to the moon and back! Thank you for giving me my sister!

This is where I went from 1^st to 8^th grade. St. Joseph School in Waipahuuuuu, yup! Living in Waianae, this was actually the nearest Catholic school for those on the Leeward Coast. Nope, there was no Ko Olina, no Kapolei, just Makakilo (from the main bus stop on Makakilo Drive and the first crop of homes mauka of that).
I used to dread going to school, not because of the early morning bus rides, but because I always got into trouble. I had ADHD (way before those initials were overused and now an exaggerated excuse for bad parenting skills, I digress). I had a hard time concentrating and keeping still, I just wanted to play and run abandoned. Many teachers during my time were nuns and hard ass ones at that. Brutal and not afraid to teach you a lesson (or twelve; one for each apostle) without the «time out» phenomena of today. Being ADHD or «hyperactive» as they’d call me, meant I had more than my share of run ins with God’s angels (Ha! More like devils, I used to think).
Despite my challenges, I had many firsts here:
1) I learned how to play a mean game of tether ball, a fierce game of dodge ball; and a brutal game of Red Rover (my grip could decapitate you).
2) I became fluent in Ilocano.
3) I contracted my first case of ukus (head lice).
4) I got into my first fist fight (and won, thank you very much; then punished for not «turning the other cheek»).
5) Experienced my first after school detention (and certainly not my last).
6) First slow dance with a chunky girl during a May Day program (why me?!).
7) Discovered the beauty of breasts from my 4^th grade teacher whose would nestle atop her desk wanting to be set free and taunting me to be its liberator.
8) Threw a rock at my homeroom instructor and didn’t confess even after he forced the entire class into church for emergency confession (dude, a staring match with God, not an easy feat).
9) Lied in confession to determine which ones granted «Hail Marys» versus more serious «Acts of Contrition».
10) Playground dancing under «black rain» or sugarcane ash from the nearby mill.
11) Became a rockin’ JPO (Junior Police Officer) with serious street cred.
12) Fell in love with ice cake and the awesome cookies sold in large tins by the cafeteria. Have never tasted a butter cookie as amazing since!
Only now do I look back on these days with reverence and how tough love demanded I become a respectable adult, accepting of my consequences and responsibilities. It was often a hard road, but I am honored that the teachers and staff of St. Joseph’s believed in me and didn’t recoil their hard knock techniques, especially during the times when I needed it the most.
When I think of St. Joseph’s, I think of all the friends, foes, friendly and no so friendly faces that ultimately guided my growth. I think of the joyous times and the painful ones. Above all, I recall learning a multitude of critical lessons that I believe are so watered down or all together lost in today’s educational system. A great school that still delivers on academics and provides a strong foundation in quality values and steadfast morality. For this, I will always be indebted to St. Joseph School.
#Yelp 365: ⁰⁶⁴⁄₃₆₅

I attended this school from first — 8^th grade. I loved it there and would recommend it. My sister’s and I have all gone to this school and the cool part is a bunch of my little cousin’s have or are attending as well.
The church has had a makeover and it’s gorgeous! Go and check it out.

Love woking at St. Joseph’s Church… who wouldn’t…it has A/​C!

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