Hawaii Academy

My granddaughter takes gymnastic instruction at Hawaii Academy. The Instructors are great w the kids and 60 minute circuits seem relevant (I'm not an expert). I see progression between age groups which is impressive. Teams from the academy win awards. My granddaughter seems to enjoy the program and is making progress. Fees are reasonable for the weekly one hour class. The gym is located in an industrial complex on the west side of Honolulu. Parking is a chore and walking into the complex is downright dangerous with toddlers and cars flying. The entrance needs to have a car-free zone to improve safety. Seating for parents is manageable but uncomfortable. Restrooms are clean.

We've been going here for almost 7 years and my kids love it (minus two years during Covid, I guess). Yes, there are a few instructors that they haven't liked but it's been easy to switch until we have the right "fit". We've also had to change classes when our schedules change, etc. and it's easy to do. Yes, the prices have increased since Covid, but I don't see anything cheaper offered on island (and prices have increased everywhere). If you do more than one lesson a week or have more than one child enrolled it gets a little more affordable. I definitely recommend it, but as I said, feel free to drop into classes until you find the right fit. Parking can also be difficult but as kids get older you can drop your kids off or find street parking a couple blocks away. The staff (instructors and managers) have always been friendly and kind and as I said, both my kids love it here. Also please note this is one of three locations (and the only one I have experience with so I can't speak to the other two.)

Update: It's been YEARS since i came here lol. It felt like i was in high school all over again. Still same ole' peeps, and same ole' equipment. Nothing really changed except for the price of the hour (in my days used to be $6/hr. Today it's $10/hour & $5/half hr). They give you different wristbands which represents the time you paid for and planned to stay here for. Open gym happens every 1st Friday of the each month. Used to be open gym every Friday every week. When coming here, there are cubbies to place your items. Bring less and leave everything else at home. There's a sitting area for those who aren't jumping or tumbling too. Very minimal parking but a whole lot of street parking near Texaco gas/car wash. One thing that I'd highly recommend is just the sanitization or upkeep of the equipment. They don't have any wipes or sprays to provide and I'm not sure if they clean them at the end of the night. -./")\.-

Our kids just started taking lessons at Hawaii Academy on Pearl Harbor this past month, and my 7 year old son's instructor, Mr. Paul, out of no where during their class told my son that he's ugly, and the only reason his mom tells him he that he's handsome is to make him happy.I get that older generations, generally men, try to be funny by teasing, and he may not have meant any harm by it. But my son doesn't know this teacher well at all yet to understand his "humor" and we don't talk like that to each other in our family. Our son said he felt really embarrassed and caught off guard by him saying that in front of his class. He has adhd and intense RSD, and we signed him up for these classes to work on building his self esteem and confidence. We've talked to him about how other peoples words don't matter, and to ignore other kids if they're rude. We told him how some people don't know how to be funny without making jokes at the expense of others, and that is only representative of them, not him. I feel like it's a weird situation because it's an adult instructor though, not another child being rude in this scenario.My husband talked to their management and was told that they would be dealing with it, and our son is in a different class with a different instructor now. My husband also asked Mr. Paul about it in person when he saw him at the gym. Paul didn't apologize, but snickered at him about it.I was really hesitant to talk about this, and was worried I may have been overreacting, but after talking with a few other parents with children who have attended classes with Paul- this is unfortunately not an isolated negative incident that occurred only with our son. Other parents have made complaints about him being inappropriate with their children as well. I don't want to speak on behalf of other parents' experiences though and hope they're willing to share them here too. There is also a review on their Facebook page from 2019 that says "There was a coach named Paul. He is very crappy in a sexual assault way to little girls. That is why we stopped going Hawaii Gymnastic Academy. Please do background checks of your staff."I just wanted to post this to let other parents who may have felt bad vibes from this instructor know that they are not alone. It really worries me about how many children may have reported feeling uncomfortable with him over the years, considering he still works there with access to children as young as 3 years old. I'm not sure if drop off/pick up events have opened back up at this branch, but there's not a chance that I'd ever feel comfortable leaving my little ones there alone there under his care. If he speaks like this to children openly and comfortably during class where their parents are present in the building, I cannot imagine how he behaves when parents are not there. I cannot speak to the sexual assault suggestion made about him on their Hawaii Academy's Facebook reviews from 2019, but had I seen that review prior to signing our kids up for classes there, there's no chance we would have let our son be placed in his class. It looks as though their reviews on their Facebook page are disabled now.Our younger daughters (3 and 5 years old) have had wonderful instructors there, and the front desk employees are so kind and sweet. I don't mean to bash this place as a whole. I was really hoping that it was just a miscommunication because we were so excited to sign up there for classes. The location, available classes, prices, and other instructors are great. However, what occurred was not a miscommunication, and there seems to be a pattern of inappropriate behavior with Paul.I will update here on how this situation is handled.

I'll admit, when my daughter asked me if she could take gymnastics classes I raised my eyebrows. She is around the 95th percentile for height for her age range, 8 years old, and couldn't even attempt anything resembling a cartwheel. The other kids in her class were around 3 years younger and literally half her height. Not going to lie, I wasn't expecting too much, I figured that the proverbial ship had sailed. Well... her first class was 6 months ago and today I watched her execute a perfect cartwheel.Hawaii Academy does seem more focused on tumbling that any of the other gymnast skill sets (which my daughter appreciates) and even has classes specific to things like cheer or ninja training (which sounds so cool!)Located in Kalihi in what looks like a huge warehouse with a bunch of trampolines, whatever they're doing... works! So I am giving them 4 stars for turning my daughter's dream into reality. The lack of that fifth star is because I get hot sitting in the non-air conditioned complex waiting for her to finish class.

I'm very disappointed of this academy. My daughter attended this school for less than 2 months however we had to cancel due to scheduling. I have been billed for the days we attended and have the receipts for it. Then I saw a charged to my account for an undisclosed bill. I was not notified nor emailed a receipt of this bill. This is very unacceptable. How can you guys run your business like this? Just because you have my credit card account, this gives you guys the right to just charge me for an undisclosed bill? Anyway, Happy Holidays!!

My girls attend this place and they love it. There is a lot of time slots for them to choose from and the staff is so nice. Justine is so sweet and flexible with my daughters schedule. I'm constantly requesting changes due to their other obligations and Justine is always so understanding. I highly recommend this place. Only down side is it can get really really hot in there.

Such a cool spot for kids (and adults too) tucked away in Kalihi right off Waiakamilo Road. We attended a kid's party here and my son had a blast. They host a class for the party and the party host can bring food, drinks, cake, etc. for the celebration. Parking is limited. They have a few stalls right up front but when those fill up, you're on your own with street parking. Before the class began, we signed waivers and they provided socks for kids who didn't bring their own. The instructors began with an introduction and a warm up with basic moves and poses for the kids to learn while on the trampolines.We had a big group so the kids were split into two groups and half the class bounced around on the trampolines while the other half did an obstacle course. The kids each had a trampoline and were taught different moves. After bouncy time, they had a water break then we switched activities. They obstacle course was challenging for the smaller kids but they had a few "handicaps" for them. For instance, they had foam steps to add to a portion of the obstacle course where it was difficult for the shorter kids to jump onto the next object.There was another water break then the kids had dinner. Before we left, they handed out coupons for a free trial day. They have a pretty good variety of classes for gymnastics, cheerleading and even "ninja" classes. These classes aren't limited to kids-they offer a senior's class. The instructor was telling us that her grandparents take classes there.They have 2 restrooms, 3 water fountains and even a little snack shop where you can purchase candy. The instructors were great and this is a great overall place for kids to spend their time at. I will be bringing my son back to take advantage of the free class.

Our son is 6 years old and already has his front and back flips. Awesome coaching staff. Every school project he does has gymnastics in it now. It's his happy place

Paul is a terrible instructor and should not be allowed to work with young children. He has had multiple incident reports with children (both physical, sexual, verbal abuse), it has been addressed by the parents and seemingly nothing is done by the facility. I have wonderful things to say about the the other instructors, but I highly suggest avoiding him with your little ones.