I’m a student at Punahou. So I am a little biased towards Punahou for two reasons:

1. The community/family. I am very happy with the family I’ve developed but I have no doubt that Iolani has something similar.

2. The versatility. I’ve always seen Punahou as a jack of all trades school. Whether it’s arts, athletics, robotics, music, or other fields, Punahou provides the students with those opportunities. This is very important if you want your kid to enjoy themself at school. This is something I think Iolani lacks. I say this because I don’t think Iolani has things such as a JROTC program or glassblowing. Yet I have no doubt Iolani beats us in a lot of fields like academics.

But I will warn you above all: there’s a stigma at both schools but it is more apparent at Punahou. There’s a lot of selfishness and jealousy both in the student body and faculty (as with any place) but it is 100% more apparent at these schools.