The Puunēnē School, also known as Puunene School, is a historic school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 building in the community of Puunēnē in the central part of Maui

Maui

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Built in 1922 by the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company (a division of Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin

Following World War II, the company entered a new business: land development and real estate. The company formed a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co., to develop housing in the Kahului area. In the following years, the company became more involved in the development of its land and the...

), which ran the community

Company town

A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...

, it was erected on 10 acres (4 ha) of land donated by the company in 1913. Upon completion, it replaced an earlier four-room school on the site that was built to hold 350 students. The Classical Revival 1922 two-story concrete building became Maui's largest elementary school with about 1000 students. In the 1950s the area went into decline, and the building was used for special education classes. In 1979 it became an administrative annex for the Department of Education

Hawai'i Department of Education

The Hawaii State Department of Education is the most centralized and only statewide public education system in the United States. The school district can be thought of as analogous to the school districts of other cities and communities in the United States, but in some manners can also be thought...

. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii on August 22, 2000.