Hi K.,
I moved to Hawaii (Oahu) in 1997 and stayed until 2006. Hawaii is beautiful and the people are very freindly, but you are right: the Hawaii Public School System is lousy (for the most part). Lots depend on what part of the island you will be living. Ewa Beach, for the most part does not have good schools. There is one new school in the Ewa Beach area (Ho'omula)...it's one of the newer schools, proabably one of the better schools. Kapolei a little better...Waiu in the Pearl City area somewhat okay. Private shcools are expensive...lots of folks homeschool. They have a homeschool network on the Island...I can't remember the name of the coordinator (Michlle Nan, maybe?), but I am sure you would be able to find her name and contact information if you inquired. If your 6 y/o does attend a public school, I recommend that you supplement his learning by challenging him to go beyond what is being taught the classroom. My expereince with the Hawaii school system is that the focus is on teaching the children how to take the Hawaii State test that measures their learning so that the children do well on the test. When I moved to Hawaii I had a 4 month old and a 10 y/o sons. My younger son did enter an private Christian school in his younger years, but I enrolled him in public school when I couldn't afford the tuition. My older son had a hard time adjusting when we first arrived in Hawaii, we lived in Ewa Beach...I placed him in private Catholic school for a year, then he went to the states. He returned to Hawaii in his high school years...it wasn't any better. Do you know for how long you will be in Hawaii? Is your 6 y/o a girl or boy? Best to you.
P.