Dorm Life

A global village: Living at HPA

If you choose to board at HPA, you’ll be in good company. Roughly 50 percent of our Upper School students live on campus. Some students come from as far as Nigeria or New York City; others are Hawai‘i residents who prefer the convenience (and fun) of dormitory life. Our close-knit boarding community is all about gaining your independence, growing as a person, and making life-long friends. This will be your home away from home.

How you live

During the school day, you attend class and afternoon co-curriculars with day and boarding students together. After dinner, you check into your dorm for free time, study hall, and sometimes a residential community meeting (depending on the day). On the weekends, you will explore the fantastic recreational and cultural activities of Hawai‘i Island and our region.

Boarding students live in three residence halls (also called dormitories) and one smaller house-dorm, all within a short walk of the classroom, athletic, and arts facilities. Each building is supervised by resident dorm faculty and has 24/7 security.

What you learn

In this multicultural community, you will gain a fresh perspective on yourself and your home culture, along with a more international view of your studies and the world in general. You’ll learn to manage your time and personal space; collaborate and communicate with your dorm family; and take responsibility and leadership in dorm life. Every Monday, in small groups or large gatherings of the entire boarding community, you’ll discuss a new personal growth topic from our residential life curriculum.

Our dorms

Depending on the building layout, dorm rooms are grouped by wing, hall, or floor into smaller “neighborhoods” within the dorm, where students form particularly close bonds and are mentored by a resident faculty member. Students live with a roommate (or occasionally two) according to the size of the room. Each residence hall is equipped with kitchenettes, laundry machines, and shared, modern bathrooms with private showers.

Dorm staffing

Each dormitory is managed by a team of 10 faculty members, led by a faculty dorm head. The dorm head and residential faculty live in the dorm, providing an adult presence on every floor or wing; the remaining team members live nearby in campus residences. One of the ten is on duty at all times. In addition, older student prefects are carefully chosen in each dorm to help guide their younger dorm-mates. Two nurses live on campus and are available to the boarding community 24/7.

The power of place

You'll never run out of things to do in Hawai'i.