Vision

Striving for excellence

Mission

Our Hilo High School community prepares our students to:

Value self and others and become
Independent thinkers and
Knowledge seekers in our changing global
Society.

A Short History

During the 1880's, if any youngster on the Big Island wanted to pursue his education beyond the eighth grade, he had to travel to Oahu. There he would board and go to school. Miss Josephine Deyo, principal of Hilo Union School wanted to find a way to keep these young people home while furthering their education. She was also very concerned about those students who could not afford to travel to Honolulu to continue their education.

School authorities hesitated but finally agreed to start a high school at Hilo Union School in September, 1905. Public interest in the high school, at first, was weak but reconsidered when they realized that if this school did not work then all high school students would again have to travel to Oahu to continue their education.

Even with much opposition, Miss Deyo pursued successfully. Her devotion for high learning on the Big Island benefited many and is still benefiting us today.

Looking back at the location of Hilo HIgh School is very interested. The first building stood on the Hilo Union campus and consisted of a wooden frame building including 3 classrooms on the first floor and a laboratory, library and assembly hall on the second floor. There are 25 students in the high school.

In 1907, the school moved to the present District Annex location. It was then called Hilo Junior High School. By the time the first class graduated in 1909, only 7 of the original 25 were left. The school stayed at that location for 15 years.

Finally in 1922, Hilo Junior High School moved up Waianuenue Avenue to its present location. The only building on campus was the Makai Building. Since that time there have been many changes in the buildings and facilities over the years. The "wild jungle" of guava trees made way for the Mauka Building and the Auditorium Building and the patio area today was then only a gully full of weeds.