Earl T. Kim, superintendent of a New Jersey school district, has been named the new headmaster of Kamehameha Schools’ Kapalama campus, school officials said Thursday.
Kim, who has been superintendent of schools in Montgomery district since 2008, will assume his new position July 1.
He will replace Michael J. Chun, headmaster and the 10th president of the campus. Chun earlier this year announced his plans to retire on June 30.
"Earl will follow the path that Dr. Chun and the Kapalama ohana have set in assuring educational excellence on a strong foundation of our Hawaiian ancestry, culture and language," said Kamehameha Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer in a statement Thursday.
The reaction among members of the Kamehameha community was generally positive.
"I think everyone is happy to welcome him in the big canoe going in the same direction," said Jan Becket, a photography teacher and representative on the school’s faculty union.
"It behooves us all to take a deep breath and say, ‘How can we help?’" said graduate Jan Dill.
Oswald Stender, a former schools trustee, said as far as he was concerned, Kim has the right credentials.
PROFILE: EARL T. KIM
» Education: ‘Iolani High School, 1980; Cornell University, B.A. in history, 1984; Princeton University, master’s degree in public affairs, domestic policy analysis, 1993
» Military: Marine Corps, honorably discharged 1988
» Career: Math teacher, Trenton Central High School, 1988; assistant principal and principal at two New Jersey high schools, 1993-2003; district superintendent of New Jersey schools, Verona Township, 2003-2006; superintendent, Montgomery school district, 2006-present
» Family: Youngest of three children, born in Hawaii and raised on Oahu, including Kaneohe and Palolo. Wife Kit is an educator who has taught in Hawaii. Two children, ages 14 and 18.
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"Him being a fellow Marine, he must be good," joked Stender, who served in the Marine Corps in the 1950s.
The announcement said Kim was born and raised in Hawaii, but did not say whether he has Hawaiian blood. The schools’ admissions policy gives preference to students of Hawaiian ancestry.
But to many, Kim’s ancestry isn’t an issue.
Toni Lee, former president of Na Pua a ke Ali’i, a group that pressed for reforms at the school in the late 1990s, applauded the appointment.
"I don’t know if he’s part-Hawaiian or not, but I don’t think that’s a criteria," she said. "I think we need the best."
Kim said he was "overwhelmed and deeply humbled," according to a school statement.
He was selected from more than 150 candidates nominated and recruited from across the nation. He was among six semifinalists interviewed, and three finalists who visited the campus in October for interviews by six review committees comprised of Kapalama faculty, students, alumni, parents, administrators and community members.
Mailer made the final decision to appoint Kim, the schools said.
Kim, the youngest of three children, remembers moving around a lot as a youngster on Oahu, living for a while in Kaneohe before the family moved to Palolo, the schools said.
Kim said, "Home was a hard place to be at times, so I ended up spending a lot of time at school," according to the schools’ announcement.
"I left the islands at 17 and began to collect my thoughts about what my purpose in life was to be," Kim said. "I traveled the United States, Western Pacific, Europe and Asia to gain perspective on our place in the world.
"I had the good fortune of studying at great universities with wonderful teachers and fellow sojourners. I am eager now to apply my learning in the service of the people and the islands that I call home. I can think of no nobler pursuit, no better use for my education and experience.
"Our keiki deserve no less."
Kamehameha Schools, a private, educational, charitable trust founded by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, serves nearly 6,900 students of Hawaiian ancestry at campuses on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island and 31 preschool sites.
